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Theory: Chinese Gamer Activism Goes Offline
Written by Mary on June 16, 2008 – 4:58 pm -
In 2006, 10,000 Chinese gamers protested at the government office inside the virtual world of The Fantasy of the Journey West due to the perceived presence of a Japanese flag (pictured).
Sociologist Matthew Chew of Hong Kong Baptist University is interested in online and offline activism by Chinese gamers. Game corporations are media businesses in the real-world but function as authoritarian states in the virtual worlds they create. Gamers are real-world middle-class cultural consumers, but grassroot, politically active citizens in the virtual world, notes Chews. Can virtual world gamers become a source of real-world political change?
Chinese gamers have been carrying out numerous forms of real-world and online protests since 2003. In 2004, some gamers went to the office of The9 and it resulted in a violent confrontation with security guards. Sit-in protests are common, as well as lying down pretending to be dead in a straight line along a road. The Moliyo Incident in 2007 involved hundreds of gamers ransacking the publishers office, spraying graffiti and destroying furniture. Grievances include rent seeking activities, mistreatment of virtual property theft, duping problems, termination of individuals gaming accounts, and technical instability (lag, frequent crashes).
The China Internet Network Information Center estimates that 31.8% of China’s 125 million Internet users played online games in 2006.
Tags: china, gamers, gaming
Posted in Asia, Theory, Virtual Worlds |