Join us on Thursday, Dec 11th, from 14-18 hrs (German time) for the third RUSTLab lecture of this winter term. Ruth Eggel will present her work on “Powering Games and Playing Futures: How Game-Makers Care for People and the Planet”.
The power of play to make an impact and change players’ behavior is increasingly applied in games to address ecological concerns and the threats of climate change. Yet games are also power-hungry technologies and contribute to environmental harm and the depletion of planetary resources throughout their extensive global value chains. Power dynamics in the industry emerge between tech titans, setting the norms, and indie studios navigating precarious conditions. In the absence of industry standards and incomplete data on the sector’s footprint, some developers are taking matters into their own hands. Where legislation and corporate action remain sluggish, bottom-up approaches have become a powerful means to transform development processes.
This lecture explores how game makers address ecological issues not only through game design, but also through energy-efficient production methods and fostering studio environments that prioritize care for people and the planet. It examines how developers navigate competing frameworks of sustainability, and how these frameworks enable different human–nature relationships and shape what forms of action become possible. The findings draw on ethnographic research with game makers and industry professionals across Europe, conducted for the project STRATEGIES — Sustainable Transition for Europe’s Game Industry (https://www.strategieshorizon.eu/).
14-16h Lecture
16-18h: Game Session
Game Studios vs. Climate Crisis: An ethnographic workshop Game
Try one of the methodical tools we used in our applied research with game developers. The card deck “Game Studios vs Climate Crisis” was developed by Game Designer Trevin York (Dire Lark, Edinburgh) as a tool for collaborative ethnographic research with game industry professionals. Take on different roles to play a games studio on their way to carbon neutrality and discuss the potential and limitations of such a ludic method in research.
Ruth Eggel is a cultural anthropologist and gender studies scholar with a focus on digital ethnography of technosocial lifeworlds and the anthropology of play and games. Inspired by feminist science and technology studies, she likes to engage in playful thinking and tinkering in her academic work. To explore the interplay of techno-logics and socio-material configurations of practice, she appreciates the micro-analytical approach of ethnography and its ability to adapt and develop customised tools for qualitative empirical inquiries.
Location: on campus (MB 4/165) and Zoom
Zoom Link
PW: RUSTlab
You will find additional resources and information on this term’s guiding theme Power Play here on our website.