We Are the Champions? Performing whiteness in Ascension

Dawn of Champions

Bibliographic Data

ID21629797
AuthorsSabine Harrer (0000-0002-4035-0748, Tampere University, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume52
Issue5
Pages533-553
Publication date2021-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSimulation & Gaming (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1046-8781 • E-ISSN: 1552-826X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1046878120982014
OpenAlexW3116616857
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited41

Background. Building on previous studies on racism and whiteness in video games, this article investigates how deck building games provide platforms for identity tourism, the symbolic appropriation of marginalised experiences, through their coupling of mechanics and racial stereotypes. Aims. The aim is to contribute to our understanding how dominant ideologies are expressed through simulation and gaming in a deck building context and how games similar to ASCENSION: DAWN OF CHAMPIONS (henceforth A: DOC) perpetuate racism and coloniality through gameplay design. This is part of an ongoing game studies effort to critique white supremacist and imperial structures in games. Method. In this article, I conduct a first-person close reading of A: DOC as an emblematic case study for contemporary deck building design. Using critical whiteness theory, I pay special attention to the gameplay design of the four Champion characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis, and Dhartha in order to demonstrate the interplay of ludic, racial, and social performative elements in the construction of playful identities. Analysis. The deck building principles of A: DOC provides a racial pedagogical arena which creates affective links between gameplay and white supremacist values. In coupling digital deck building mechanics with stereotypical fantasy characters, the game invites players to take the roles of fantasy tourists and thereby become implicit in white supremacist play. Even though the characters Nairi, Kor, Sadranis and Dhartha are leaders of different genders and races, their “diversity” is established via popular racial cybertypes like the white female diversity advocate, the technologically advanced white male emperor, the aggressive Black male, and the Asian male exotic Oriental

Aesthetics · Art · Fantasy · Ideology · Literature · Performative utterance · Political science · Politics · Racism · Sociology · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts