Ethics and Video Games Podcast

In our ethics news and bits episodes we grab a few recent news items that we want to chat about, but not devote an entire episode to.  This time around we look at China's dramatic new restrictions on when kids can play and controversies around the content warnings of two dating games. --------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share us on Facebook ,  Twitt...

How can you responsibly design a game about an ongoing tragedy like the corona-19 pandemic?  How can you make ANY moral decision responsibly?  In this episode we introduce a step-by-step approach to think through any ethical decision – using the creation of a game based on the corona pandemic as our example. --------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share...

Esport is in some ways similar to traditional sport competitions, but in other ways is a totally new kind of enterprise.  In this episode we chat with Dr. Matti Karhulati, who researches esports, about some of the unique concerns about fairness that arise in competitive gaming. --------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share us on Facebook ,  Twitter , an...

When people talk about games and ethics, it's almost always about potential moral problems with gaming – things like violence, sexism, and addiction.  It's almost as if games couldn't do anything good for the world other than just be fun.  But video games can also provide us with great opportunities for becoming better people!  As our guest, game scholar and author, Karen Schrier, argues in her ne...

We're used to thinking about games as fantasy worlds we escape to, while leaving our bodies behind.  In this traditional perspective of gaming, video games liberate us from our bodies and free us to be anyone and anything.  But, is that really the case?  In this episode we speak with Dr. Rob Cover, who rejects this view and argues that it's morally important to remember that we never leave our rea...

This is the second episode in our "Andy and Shlomo design a game" series.  In this game, we want to tackle the issue of crime and punishment.  That's right, we want to make a game dealing with the complex ethical questions around how we treat criminals. --------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share us on Facebook ,  Twitter , and  YouTube   - Explore ou...

In this episode we'll be walking through a game, in this case 'Dragon City' a free-to-play game by Socialpoint games through an ETHICAL lens.  It's a game review, but instead of talking about fun or value or quality, we'll just be talking about certain game features that might be morally problematic.  These game features are not uncommon.  But "everyone does it" has never been a good excuse! -----...

It seems obvious that we would respond differently to the moral dimension of a game that we're playing, as opposed to the moral dimension of a movie we're watching or a book that we're reading.  But what are these differences?  And are there ways that we psychologically engage with morality that are unique to video games?  We've invited Dr. Jamie Madigan, psychologist, author, researcher, life-lon...

How can ethics play a role in game design?  What's the point of teaching of ethics to game design students?  Our guest, game scholar Jose Zagal (@JoseZagal) is not just a pioneer on this subject, but also teaches one of only two classes in the world for game design students on the subject of Ethics and Video Games. -------------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follo...

Trolls are the jerks of the gaming world.  They provoke, they insult, they disrupt, they get their gaming pleasure from messing with other players emotions and messing up their games.  It's not hard to say that trolling it typically immoral, but are all trolls the same and is trolling ever justified?  Joining us for our discussion is Dr. Christine "Chrissy" Cook, an expert researcher on trolls in...

When it comes to the possibility that video games might harm kids, a common and classic position is that game companies aren't the ones responsible here.  It's the parents job to make good decisions on behalf of their children, and to protect them as necessary.  If children do get harmed, the problem is lazy parenting – parents just not doing their job.  How sensible is this view?  How far do the...

Asking "Why should you play games?" is very different from asking why you actually play games.   It's an ethical question that also asks an existential question: "what's the point of playing games?".  In this episode we explore how the answers we might give to these last two questions relate to the biggest ethical question of all – "how should you live your life?"  --------------------------- JOIN...

Gamers and non-gamers alike have plenty of complaints about the ways game companies supposedly act irresponsibly. But in this episode, we're going BIGGER than that!  We're going to look at 4 ideas about what any corporation is responsible for and apply these to today's game companies.  Which idea is right and how might these companies do things differently if they were convinced to see their respo...

When people point out sexism in games and game culture, the classic suggested prescription is that game companies need to hire more women.  The idea is that more women in game companies will bring a voice to call out sexist aspects of games, and bring a greater demand to protect female players from a somewhat toxic gaming culture.  Women make up about half of players, so why are there still so few...

When kids play video games to the point where it interferes with their life, whose responsibility is it to help them avoid addiction and get back to living a healthy lifestyle?  Most places assume that the responsibility lies with the player or parent and leave it to them to deal with it.  But in South Korea and China excessive gaming is seen as an important social problem that demands that the go...

To take a bunch of different moral decisions in a game and count them in some way as if they're related, comparable, or calculable requires a "morality system".   In part 1 of our exploration of morality systems, we looked at various types of morality systems and why it was so hard to quantify or even organize morality in the first place.  In part 2 we'll look at how philosophers might try to coun...

It's one thing to design a game where the player is forced to make moral choices, and another to systemize those choices so that they're collectively integrated within the game somehow.  To take a bunch of different moral decisions in a game and treat them as if they're related, comparable, or calculable requires a "morality system".  In this episode we look at some of the common ways morality sys...

How does consent come into play in the world of gaming?  We look at how the idea of player consent works within the RPG table-top role playing community and explore this idea of consent in terms of how you treat players might be applied to video games.  -------------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share us on Facebook ,  Twitter , and  YouTube   - Explo...

How do some games create ethical reflection in players? We think about how it's done, then create a high-level design idea on-the-fly for a game we think would give players lots of opportunities for ethical reflection.   -------------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GAMES COMMUNITY: - Follow/like/share us on Facebook ,  Twitter , and  YouTube   - Explore our website and check out our...

Intel announces the creation of an audio filter targeted for video games that will give players the power to do things like choose to hear only "some" misogyny or white supremacy. What???   And Steam bans yet another game - Super Seducer 3.  Were their reasons for doing so good ones?  Do they have a morally consistent censorship policy? -------------------------------- JOIN THE ETHICS AND VIDEO GA...

In 2009, 6 Days in Fallujah, the first major studio release of a game about a real ongoing war was "cancelled" 3 weeks before its release date.  Now, in 2021, there's a new 6 Days in Fallujah game and the trailer is out.  Is this a more responsible version of the game's concept?  We think it's a brave and imperfect step in the right direction along a difficult path the gaming industry has to take...

Games are sometimes criticized not just for having some immoral aspect like too much violence or unnecessarily sexualization, but of being morally bad games .  And if a game is immoral, then we might want to think about banning of restricting it in some way.  But how can we decide if a game is immoral or not?  In this episode we look at ways to do just that. -------------------------------- JOIN T...

Most gamers believe that there's nothing wrong with virtual murder in games.  After all, none of it is real.  No one is actually hurt.  There is no murder.  It's all just fantasy.  It might even be a way for some people to release some steam.  But, most gamers believe that there would be something very wrong with a game that included virtual pedophilia.  Why is that?  After all, none of it is real...

Yeah, we know the question may sound silly.  But, like tobacco, video games can be addictive.  Moreover, some video games are made in ways that are designed to manipulate their customers into addictive behavior, so that they want to play more, so that they can be monetized more.  Doesn't that sound like the historical misdeeds of tobacco?  And like tobacco, video game addiction has killed.  How fa...

Until 2018 Steam had a fairly conventional policy that among other things banned content that included hate speech, pornography, the exploitation of children, libel, offensive content, or content intended to shock or disgust viewers.  Then, after vigorous internal debate, they dramatically changed that policy.  In doing so, they saw themselves as struggling with a very difficult problem.  The issu...