The Pop Theology of Videogames

Producing and Playing with Religion

Lars de Wildt (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

158 Seiten

2023
Amsterdam University Press (Verlag)
978-94-6372-986-4 (ISBN)

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Young people in the West are more likely to encounter religion in videogames than in places of worship like churches, mosques or temples. Lars de Wildt interviews developers and players of games such as Assassin’s Creed to find out how and why the Pop Theology of Videogames is so appealing to modern audiences. Based on extensive fieldwork, this book argues that developers of videogames and their players engage in a ‘Pop Theology’ through which laymen reconsider traditional questions of religion by playing with them. Games allow us to play with religious questions and identities in the same way that children play at being a soldier, or choose to ‘play house.’ This requires a radical rethinking of religious questions as no longer just questions of belief or disbelief; but as truths to be tried on, compared, and discarded at will.

Lars de Wildt is Assistant Professor in Media and Cultural Industries at the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen. He was previously a (visiting) researcher at the universities of Leuven, Tampere, Montréal, and Deakin. He studies how media industries and media cultures change each other, such as how videogames changed religion and how religion changed videogames in a post-secular age. For more, see larsdewildt.eu.

Chapter 1. Introduction
Part I. Producing Religion “Which choices lead game-makers to use religion in their videogames?”
Chapter 2. Making Religion at Ubisoft
Chapter 3. Indie-pendent: the Arthouse Gods of Indie games
Part II. Consuming Religion “How do players make sense of and relate to religion in videogames?”
Chapter 4. Public Religion on Videogame Forums
Chapter 5. Single-player Religion
Part III. Conclusion
Chapter 6. Conclusion: Pop Theology.
Complete bibliography
Index .

Erscheinungsdatum	20.04.2023
Reihe/Serie	Games and Play
Zusatzinfo	7 Illustrations, black and white
Verlagsort	Amsterdam
Sprache	englisch
Maße	156 x 234 mm
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie
Themenwelt	Informatik ► Weitere Themen ► Computerspiele
ISBN-10	94-6372-986-0 / 9463729860
ISBN-13	978-94-6372-986-4 / 9789463729864
Zustand	Neuware