Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing
Digital games have become a popular cultural pastime and a profitable media industry, with an average player age of 32. During the lockdown years, the many facets of digital games came to light, particularly their capacity to encourage the development of safe spaces for interaction and communities....
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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De Gruyter
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Open Cultural Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2024-0033 |
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| _version_ | 1832570440875245568 |
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| author | Ferreira Cátia Ganito Carla Gonçalves Soraia |
| author_facet | Ferreira Cátia Ganito Carla Gonçalves Soraia |
| author_sort | Ferreira Cátia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Digital games have become a popular cultural pastime and a profitable media industry, with an average player age of 32. During the lockdown years, the many facets of digital games came to light, particularly their capacity to encourage the development of safe spaces for interaction and communities. Games that encourage creativity and content creation, like Second Life, Animal Crossing, and Minecraft, for example, give users a variety of safe spaces to express themselves and grow creatively. The article addresses the function of video games as safe spaces using a mixed-methods approach, emphasizing the role played during the pandemic and using Animal Crossing as an example. Three primary techniques for gathering data were an online survey, netnography, and document analysis. Through the Animal Crossing: New Horizons case study, we were able to confirm that players do, in fact, view the game as more than just a way to pass the time. They make expressive and proactive use of it, deriving immense pleasure from producing and disseminating content that is uniquely personalized for them. It is a tool for escapism and provides a feeling of belonging to players who agree that the New Horizons Fan Community is a united, helpful, caring, and generous community. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7fad82e13cd24c909b22362ffdccab6a |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2451-3474 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | De Gruyter |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Cultural Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-7fad82e13cd24c909b22362ffdccab6a2025-02-02T15:45:13ZengDe GruyterOpen Cultural Studies2451-34742025-01-0191pp. 444710.1515/culture-2024-0033Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal CrossingFerreira Cátia0Ganito Carla1Gonçalves Soraia2Research Centre for Communication and Culture, Human Sciences School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, PortugalResearch Centre for Communication and Culture, Human Sciences School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, PortugalResearch Centre for Communication and Culture, Human Sciences School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, PortugalDigital games have become a popular cultural pastime and a profitable media industry, with an average player age of 32. During the lockdown years, the many facets of digital games came to light, particularly their capacity to encourage the development of safe spaces for interaction and communities. Games that encourage creativity and content creation, like Second Life, Animal Crossing, and Minecraft, for example, give users a variety of safe spaces to express themselves and grow creatively. The article addresses the function of video games as safe spaces using a mixed-methods approach, emphasizing the role played during the pandemic and using Animal Crossing as an example. Three primary techniques for gathering data were an online survey, netnography, and document analysis. Through the Animal Crossing: New Horizons case study, we were able to confirm that players do, in fact, view the game as more than just a way to pass the time. They make expressive and proactive use of it, deriving immense pleasure from producing and disseminating content that is uniquely personalized for them. It is a tool for escapism and provides a feeling of belonging to players who agree that the New Horizons Fan Community is a united, helpful, caring, and generous community.https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2024-0033digital gamessafe placescommunitycreativityanimal crossing |
| spellingShingle | Ferreira Cátia Ganito Carla Gonçalves Soraia Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing Open Cultural Studies digital games safe places community creativity animal crossing |
| title | Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing |
| title_full | Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing |
| title_fullStr | Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing |
| title_short | Digital Games as Safe Places: The Case of Animal Crossing |
| title_sort | digital games as safe places the case of animal crossing |
| topic | digital games safe places community creativity animal crossing |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/culture-2024-0033 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ferreiracatia digitalgamesassafeplacesthecaseofanimalcrossing AT ganitocarla digitalgamesassafeplacesthecaseofanimalcrossing AT goncalvessoraia digitalgamesassafeplacesthecaseofanimalcrossing |