‘Essential reading for anyone trying to understand where the next influence operation is being built’
ELIOT HIGGINS, founder of Bellingcat
‘Revelatory . . . will fundamentally change how you understand modern power’
KELLY CLANCY, author of Playing with Reality
__________________________________
In Power Play, leading game industry expert George E. Osborn reveals how video games – the world’s largest entertainment medium – are being used by autocrats, populists and violent extremists to influence the real world around us.
Video games are the world’s largest entertainment medium. They are played by billions of people of all ages every year, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.
But they are more than an entertainment product. They connect people across the globe, creating digital third places where people talk, share ideas and build identities, fostering diverse communities capable of dominating the digital discourse now shaping our reality.
While democracies continue to underestimate the potential for influence in this space, others have seized the opportunity to control, co-opt or collaborate with video game communities to wield the power of these vast information ecosystems.
Saudi Arabia is spending tens of billions of dollars acquiring video games businesses to wash its reputation. Russia has funded video game development to help spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine. Steve Bannon utilised tactics deployed by online video game communities to propel Donald Trump into the White House, and Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin even carved video game references into his bullets.
Supported by the insights of politicians, academics and industry experts, Power Play is the vital guide for understanding this new political frontier, highlighting what democracies must do to protect and harness the immense power of play before the essential battle for digital influence is lost for good.
ELIOT HIGGINS, founder of Bellingcat
‘Revelatory . . . will fundamentally change how you understand modern power’
KELLY CLANCY, author of Playing with Reality
__________________________________
In Power Play, leading game industry expert George E. Osborn reveals how video games – the world’s largest entertainment medium – are being used by autocrats, populists and violent extremists to influence the real world around us.
Video games are the world’s largest entertainment medium. They are played by billions of people of all ages every year, generating hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue.
But they are more than an entertainment product. They connect people across the globe, creating digital third places where people talk, share ideas and build identities, fostering diverse communities capable of dominating the digital discourse now shaping our reality.
While democracies continue to underestimate the potential for influence in this space, others have seized the opportunity to control, co-opt or collaborate with video game communities to wield the power of these vast information ecosystems.
Saudi Arabia is spending tens of billions of dollars acquiring video games businesses to wash its reputation. Russia has funded video game development to help spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine. Steve Bannon utilised tactics deployed by online video game communities to propel Donald Trump into the White House, and Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin even carved video game references into his bullets.
Supported by the insights of politicians, academics and industry experts, Power Play is the vital guide for understanding this new political frontier, highlighting what democracies must do to protect and harness the immense power of play before the essential battle for digital influence is lost for good.
Reviews
A great book to introduce you to the most important cultural technique of this century and how it is used by our adversaries to corrode and undermine our democracies.
A remarkable account of how and why video games became the most important entertainment space of the 21st century. Osborn writes with authority and passion. Anyone who cares about the intersection of politics and play - and everyone should - needs to read this book.
Essential reading for anyone trying to understand where culture, technology, and power collide.
Osborn has done what too few researchers and journalists bother to do: take video games seriously as an information environment. The same ecosystems I've watched get exploited for disinformation, the Discord servers, the Twitch streams, the in-game communities, are mapped here with forensic clarity. Power Play is essential reading for anyone trying to understand where the next influence operation is being built.
Should be required reading for those worried about the future of their hobby - and the democratic leaders who could help change the game.
Unnervingly clear . . . Perfectly accessible for readers who know nothing about video games and frequently surprising even for those who know a lot, Power Play uncovers . . . the essential but often overlooked role of video games in shaping everything from the invention of the iPhone to the election of Donald Trump. This book is the best way for the rest of the world to catch up.
Urgent, fascinating . . . will fundamentally change how you understand modern power.