We would like to point you in the direction of a recently released edited volume titled Historiographies of Game Studies: What It Has Been, What It Could Be, edited by Alisha Karabinus, Carly A. Kocurek, Cody Mejeur, and Emma Vossen. The chapters in the book, two of which were authored by UU scholars, critically reflect on both the past and potential futures of game studies as a field.

To cite the blurb from the publisher’s site:

Today, game studies is a thriving field with many dedicated national and international conferences, journals, professional societies, and a strong presence at conferences in disciplines like computer science, communication, media studies, theater, visual arts, popular culture, and others. But, when did game studies start? And what (and who) is at the core or center of game studies? Fields are defined as much by what they are not as by what they are, and their borderlands can be hotly contested spaces.

As mentioned, two chapters were written by UU scholars. The first chapter, “Redirecting Ludification: Dutch Game Studies and the Neoliberalization of Academia” is written by Dennis Jansen and focuses on institutional politics on a national level, exloring existing complexities and inequities. The chapter asks the question what the ludification of a Dutch university looks like, what shapes it takes, what its academic politics are, and ultimately what the role is of game
studies in the process.

The second chapter is written by Jasper van Vught and Joris Veerbeek, titled “Video or Digital? Exploring the Use of Terminology and Connected Approaches in the History of Game Studies” critically explores the dominant topics and trend within the field using computational text analysis of a large body of academic work going back to 1999.

The edited volume can be purchased or downloaded via open acces on the publsher’s site.