Call for Chapters
Edited Volume: Chornobyl in Video Games: Memory, Simulation, and Post-Apocalyptic Play

Editor: Yaraslau Kot
Affiliation: Assistant Professor at University of Warsaw; Researcher at European Humanities University
Publisher: [TBA]

The 1986 Chornobyl catastrophe remains one of the most consequential technological disasters of the twentieth century, with enduring cultural, political, and environmental implications. In recent decades, Chornobyl and its surrounding Exclusion Zone have also become a significant site of representation within digital games, where history, memory, and speculative fiction intersect in interactive form.

This edited volume seeks to examine how video games represent, reinterpret, and transform Chornobyl as both a historical event and a mediated cultural space. It aims to bring together interdisciplinary perspectives from game studies, media studies, history, anthropology, memory studies, and related fields. By focusing on Chornobyl as both a historical event and a mediated playable space, this volume seeks to contribute to broader discussions on the role of interactive media in shaping cultural memory, historical consciousness, and speculative imaginaries. It also aims to foreground Eastern European perspectives and experiences within global game studies discourse.

The volume is also conceived in the context of two anniversaries:

• 40 years since the Chornobyl catastrophe (1986–2026)

• 20 years since the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl (2007–2027)

Scope and Topics

We invite original chapter contributions addressing (but not limited to) the following themes:

• Representations of Chornobyl in video games

• The gamification of nuclear disaster and post-apocalyptic environments

• Historical accuracy, authenticity, and fictionalization

• Cultural memory, trauma, and ethics in interactive media

• The Exclusion Zone as environment, system, and narrative space

• Eastern European and post-Soviet perspectives in game design

• Radiation, mutation, and speculative tropes

• Immersion, realism, and simulation practices

• Player agency, moral choice, and affect

• Transmedia comparisons (film, television, literature)

 Submission Guidelines

• Abstract length: up to 500 words

• Chapter length: 5,000–7,000 words

• Language: English

• Citation style: Chicago (Notes and Bibliography)

• Submissions must be original and not under consideration elsewhere

Abstracts should include:

• Author name(s) and institutional affiliation(s)

• A brief biographical note: 100–150 words (mention related publications) 

• Contact email address

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 June 2026

• Notification of acceptance: 1 July 2026

• Full chapter submission: 1 November 2026

All submitted chapters will undergo a rigorous academic double peer review process.

Submission and Contact

Please send abstracts and all inquiries to:
y.kot@uw.edu.pl

Subject line: Chornobyl in Video Games – Chapter Proposal

We look forward to receiving your proposals.