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3 Interactive Ent. L. Rev. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/iacentv3 and id is 1 raw text is: 1 Playing the pandemic This issue of the Interactive Entertainment Law Review is unique in that we are going to press during a global pandemic. Most will agree that we are living in surreal times, a dystopia composed of murky origins, shocking immedi- acys, and yet unknowable conclusions. Our reality is unfailingly similar to most adventure video games. How- ever, there is a certain monotony that exists as we see- mingly grind through the loot boxes of life 24/7 in search of a prize that makes us feel more certain or safe. When you think about it, our current relationship with video games has changed. Where previously we tra- versed from the real world through the screen into the realm of fantasy, it is now considerably harder to know which fantastically dangerous dystopia of our two conscious worlds is more treacherous or more at risk? Despite these distortions to our previously accepted version of reality, statistics tell us video games are doing better than ever, whether measured in time spent on them, or by any other measure.1 No doubt part of this may be people having unexpected time on their hands. Another explanation may be that video games have always been an escape, and now we simply need to escape more often and more completely, not- withstanding that the world we are escaping to may be eerily similar in its dangers and obstacles to the world we are choosing to escape from. Perhaps video game players are adjusting better to the travails of the pandemic because for years we were already social distancing, communicating extremely fre- quently through technology, and being oddly comforta- ble with both dystopias, as well as scenarios that change wildly and instantaneously. This is perhaps not as crazy as it sounds given that it is consistent with the view that video games have evolutionary impacts on us humans - 1 Just the merest sampling of articles on the subject: James Batchelor, 'NPD: US console sales in April up 163% to $420m - Video games hardware and software generated $1.5 billion last month, making it the biggest April on record', gamesindustry.biz (22 May 2020), available at: https://www.game- sindustry.biz/articles/2020-05-22-npd-us-console-sales-in-april-up-163- percent-to-usd420m; Sam Desatoff, 'Report: Video game sales increased by 73% in April, setting new records for the month (NPD Group)', game- daily.biz (22 May 2020), available at: https://gamedaily.biz/article/1752/ report-video-game-sales-increased-by-74-in-april-setting-new-records- for-the-month-npd-group; 'The giants of the video game industry have thrived in the pandemic. Can the success continue?', Washington Post; Ste- fan Hall, 'How COVID-19 is taking gaming and esports to the next level', weforum.org (15 May 2020), available at: https://www.weforum.org/ agenda/2020/05/covid-19-taking-gaming-and-esports-next-level/; Patrick Shanley, 'Gaming Usage Up 75 Percent Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Ver- izon Reports', hollywoodreporter.com (17 March 2020), available at: Journal compilation © 2020 Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd that we develop physical and psychological2 skills that will serve the cause of humanity's survival over the long term.3 Which leads to the not wholly unrealistic expectation that the post Covid-19 world will be com- prised of more video game players, playing more video games than ever before, and consciously or not, prepar- ing ourselves for future unexpected challenges. If noth- ing else, video game players are good at complex puzzles, skills that bode well for a post Covid-19-vaccine earth, likely to be more complicated and puzzling than ever before. However, there is one more thing.4 A hopeful yet con- troversial reality is emergent from our immediate experi- ences and predicaments. To put it simply, we must appreciate that everything is political. Everyone within and outside the world of video games should now under- stand that even feigning to be non-political is itself a powerful political statement, almost certainly one favouring a western, white, male oriented self-perpetuating status quo in power structures and economic wealth. A global health pandemic accompanied by a worldwide protest demanding long promised but insidiously denied equality among peoples and genders probably may come well within the comfort range of astute, well informed, and experienced video game players. They are already very comfortable stepping out to join the fight - in the name of digital destiny. They are driven to fight without compromise for what is theirs or should be, usually against a grand, cruel, and seemingly all-powerful foe. In the game world we know what happens next. Never retreat, never surrender. Video game players bat- tle through the impossible odds to the other side where a new dawn rises. In some way or another that is the nar- rative of every video game ever played, from puzzles to racers to MMORPGs. The question is how many are https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/gaming-usage-up-75 -percent- coronavirus-outbreak-verizon-reports-1285140. 2 See Darla Read, 'COVID-19: Video games good for mental health during pandemic, says U of S prof, the starphoenix.com (5 May 2020), available at: https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/covid-19-video-games- good-for-mental-health-during-pandemic-says-u-of-s-prof. 3 In terms of mostly learning, physical and intelligence skills, this view is perhaps most functionally articulated by Mary Meeker of Kleiner Perkins in her 2017 Recode Conference presentation which can be found at https://youtu.be/UC8GwG6srqs at 9:12. 4 As Steve Jobs famously used to say. See for example Ewan Spence, 'Five Of The Greatest One More Thing... Moments From Steve Jobs And Apple', forbes.com (19 October 2013), available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ ewanspence/2013/10/19/five-of- the-greatest-one-more-thing-moments- from-steve-jobs-and-apple/#20ea27c87169. 10.4337/ielr.2020.01.00

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