“Was Barbarossa not German?!” : Nation, history, and identity in Civilization players’ online discussions

Kathrin Trattner

doi:10.7557/ejcgc.v16i2.8087

Authors

Kathrin Trattner University of Zurich https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3912-5682

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/ejcgc.v16i2.8087

Keywords:

player discussions, nation, history, identity, Civilization

Abstract

This paper investigates how players engage with and reflect on the construction of the nation and its place in history in the turn-based strategy game series Civilization (1991–2025). The Civilization series has been studied extensively concerning portrayals of history and nationhood within the games, mainly through their rule systems. This study’s purpose is to add a player-centered perspective to this body of scholarship and thereby critically challenge assumptions about players’ reception of the games’ portrayals of the nation throughout history. For this purpose, a structuring qualitative content analysis was conducted to analyze player discussions on the largest German-speaking Civilization forum. As this study demonstrates, players neither simply internalize nor ignore the games’ ideological underpinnings inherent to the structure of their rules as previous literature assumes. Rather, players negotiate Civilization’s portrayal of the nation throughout history in complex ways that are, most of all, dependent on their own national identities and feelings of belonging. The study thereby speaks to broader disciplinary discourses within game studies by critically investigating whether or how ideologies ingrained within games’ rule systems are perceived, discussed, negotiated, or sometimes even subverted by players.

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