There are over 50 million players over the age of 50 in the USA alone and those numbers will only continue to grow for an activity that’s too often viewed as “kids’ stuff”.  How and when do older players engage with online gaming communities?  Do designers need to be concerned about monetizing techniques that might take advantage of vulnerable older adults?  What can societies do to help older games access games that would be fun and beneficial for them?  How can games themselves be more inclusive for older players?  ..read more

Games are particularly fertile grounds for extremist recruitment.  Why is that?  What’s special about games and gaming culture that might make them attractive spaces for recruitment?  How does extremist recruitment work in games?  What is being done about it right now?  And what can be done to help prevent the spread of extremism through games? --------------------------------------------------------------- Rachel Kowert, Ph.D is a research psychologist and the Research Director of Take This. She is a world-renowned researcher on the uses and effects of digital games ..read more

When game companies simulate cultures in their games they usually focus on the tropes that their intended audiences have about those cultures and then design their game around those tropes.  Is there anything wrong with that?  If so, what? What can game designers do to present cultures – present and past – more respectfully? ---------------------------------------------------------------  Andrei Zanescu is a newly minted Doctor of Communication at Concordia University, in Montreal, Canada. His research focuses on resonance and its uses for (re)producing culture, in blockbuster g ..read more

Gaming and game development work differently for the developed global north than the developing global south.  What are those differences?  How does the global south play and pay differently?  Why is it so hard to start a game development company in the global south?  How can the gaming world better take these things into consideration in order to be more inclusive to  the global south? ---------------------------------------------------------------  Aditya Deshbandhu is Lecturer of Communications, Digital Media Sociology at the University of Exeter. A researcher ..read more

In a couple of recent episodes guests have mentioned concerns about battle passes.  So, in this episode we decided to explore how they work, how they differ from traditional  subscription models or microtransactions, why they’re so popular today with game companies, and whether they raise any serious ethical concerns. ---------------------------------------------------------------  Daniel Joseph is a Senior Lecturer of Digital Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University where he researches internet infrastructure, platforms, apps, and games. He’s also written for a number of ..read more

What can college esport teams do to blunt harassment against female players and make esports more inclusive?  Are they in a unique position to help solve these problems in esports?  We chat with representatives from Kean University about their attempts to make their own esport teams more inclusive to women. --------------------------------------------------------------- Theresa Lee is a returning student in her 40’s, who majors in Environmental science and Drones, and is the captain of the Hearthstone team.  Joseph Sarnoski is Kean University's eSports program director. In addit ..read more

In this episode we explore some of the ethical issues related to kinks in video games – mostly adult ones.  How can games allow us to explore kinks?  What are some ethical pitfalls designers should consider?  How do issues like representation and consent fit in?  ..read more

What should we think about when we bring sex and intimacy into video games?  In this episode, we explore issues of player sexuality, in-game intimacy, representations of consent, and how video games can take chances and explore sexuality responsibly. --------------------------- Our guest for this episode are: Zhia Zariko is a media and communication expat into games design and development. Originally studying written communication, she did an elective in games, aesthetics and culture and never looked back. She now holds a Masters on Let's Play videos from RMIT, Australia, and has been tea ..read more

How do players morally engage with games?  What can user experience research and moral psychology tell us about how players experience and think about ethical decisions in games?  We chat with philosopher Paul Formosa and Game Designer Malcolm Ryan about their collaborative ongoing research exploring these questions. --------------------------- Our guest for this episode are: Paul Formosa is a Professor of Philosophy, Head of the Department of Philosophy, and Co-Director of the Centre for Agency, Values and Ethics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Paul has published widel ..read more

Games are supposed to be fun and playing in a historical setting or replaying historical events can be really fun.  But when does the use of history become morally problematic by misrepresenting that history, leaving out alternative perspectives, or failing to communicate to the player when the game is or is not meant to be historically accurate?     --------------------------- Our guest for this episode is Dr. Bram De Ridder - a postdoctoral researcher in applied history at the University of Leuven, Belgium. He has performed extensive research into the topics of public and ..read more