Call for Papers: International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics

Special Issue: ‘Entertainment Video Games Within Wider Culture’

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-media-cultural-politics#call-for-papers

Context

Videogames have become one of the defining cultural forms of the twenty-first century. With over 124 million players across the European Union and an industry generating more than €24 billion annually, the European video game industry ecosystem (EVGIE) represents not only a major economic force but a significant site of cultural production, social experience, and political contest. Yet scholarly attention within media and cultural politics has lagged behind this reality. Questions of governance, cultural value, inclusion, heritage, and the politics of creative labour in the EVGIE remain under-examined.

This Special Issue responds directly to this gap. Drawing on and extending the research agenda of GAMEHEARTS(Games, Heritage, Arts, & Sport: exploring the economic, social, and cultural value of the European video game ecosystem), a three-year EU Horizon Europe-funded project (Grant Agreement No. 101132543) led by the University of Vienna and the University of Salford, in partnership with Wroclaw University of Economics and Business, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Tampere University, Ubisoft, the Imperial War Museums, City Football Group (Manchester City), and the London Symphony Orchestra. This issue invites original scholarly contributions that engage critically with the cultural politics of video games and the broader creative and cultural industries (CCI) with which they intersect.

The issue is not restricted to GAMEHEARTS consortium members; contributions from researchers beyond the project are equally welcome. We are particularly interested in work that bridges empirical research and policy-relevant analysis, in keeping with the International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics' commitment to engaged, critical scholarship in dialogue with the practical world of communications, culture, and politics.

Thematic Focus

We invite theoretical and empirical contributions addressing the cultural, social, and political dimensions of video games and the EVGIE. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Cultural value and the politics of recognition

• How is cultural value attributed to, or withheld from, video games in European policy and public discourse?

• Videogames as cultural heritage: institutions, archives, and the politics of preservation

• Videogames and national or regional cultural identity

Governance, regulation, and policy

• EU and national regulatory frameworks governing the video game industry

• The politics of content regulation: age ratings, violence, loot boxes, and platform accountability

• Intellectual property, labour rights, and the political economy of game development

• Policy approaches to supporting a socially responsible EVGIE

Inclusion, diversity, and social cohesion

• Gender, race, disability, and class in game design, development pipelines, and player communities

• Videogames as tools for empathy, cultural encounter, and social cohesion — or their limits

• The role of co-creation and participatory design in producing more inclusive cultural experiences

• Video games and the surrounding culture (eSports, online fandom, etc.) as sites of community formation, civic engagement, and cultural contestation

Cross-sector innovation and the creative industries

• The EVGIE as a driver of innovation in heritage, the arts, and sport

• Extended reality (XR), immersive technology, and new modes of cultural engagement

• Value co-creation between the video game industry and other sectors of the CCI

• Audience diversity and the politics of discovery in gaming contexts

Wellbeing, play, and the politics of gaming culture

• The contested politics of video game effects research

• Games, mental wellbeing, and the destigmatisation of gaming

• Commercial games as cultural texts: education, heritage, and civic value

 Format and Submission

The guest editors welcome the following types of contribution:

• Full articles: Maximum 7000 words (including references and metadata)

All submissions must be original work not under consideration elsewhere. Submissions should follow the Notes for Contributors available on the journal's website.

Please submit via the journal's submission portal here and select the Entertainment Video Games Within Wider Culture Special Issue designation.

Timeline

14 April 2026 — Abstracts due (500 words maximum, including title, outline of argument and method, and type of contribution)

28 April 2026 — Decisions on abstracts communicated to authors

26 June 2026 — Full manuscripts due

31 July 2026 — Peer review decisions returned to authors

28 August 2026 — Revised manuscripts due

Winter 2026 — Publication

Guest Editors

Mata Haggis-Burridge, Breda University of Applied Sciences, haggis.m@buas.nl

Treshi-Marie Perera, Breda University of Applied Sciences, perera.t@buas.nl

Seamus Simpson, University of Salford, UK