Video Games and Neoliberal Subjectivity: Game-Play and Ludopathic Rationality

Abstract

This study approaches neoliberal subjectivity from the perspective of video games, using game studies framework. Neoliberalism has developed itself in parallel to communication technologies, based on data capitalism. Its dynamic of recording human behaviour, to optimise platforms and thus collect even more data, finds its ideal form in the game and play of video games. When this dynamic is applied —treating players and their communities as active agents— it gives rise to new subjectivities. To address this, the study introduces the concept of ludopathic rationality. This notion captures the continuous surpassing of the game, the corporate processes of analysis and appropriation, and the development of new systems that leverage changes in communal affects and meanings.