Games and Politics

Games and Politics is a series of events by the Goethe-Institut Cyprus, which deals with the role and relevance of games and gaming in society.

A game is always more than just a game. Without considering the influence of the society that plays it, it remains just as impossible to understand as without considering its influence on that society. Just among Germans, 42 percent of the population now regularly click their way through digital game worlds, of which 53 percent are men and 47 percent women. Revenues in the computer games sector now far surpass those in the film industry.

The effects of this development are becoming apparent: Like other media, computer games permit themselves to be harnessed by the political interests of any faction. Game designers are turning toward new themes and target audiences. Artists are using the medium in order to open its functions up to scrutiny and to explore where the boundary of games now lie. And the big museums are discovering computer games as cultural property, which is meant to be collected and preserved. Reflections on the phenomenon of computer games from the perspective of cultural sciences, however, continue to be few and far between in the discourse of art institutions.