Editorial: The darkish and the sunshine facet of gaming (Quantity II)

Abstract

The educational debate on the results of digital video games has been current all through all the historical past of recreation research. It is a mirrored image of the debates current in our society for the reason that introduction of the primary inexpensive private computer systems within the Eighties (Reer, Siitonen & De La Hera, 2024), and will also be seen as a continuation of the scholarship into media results that emerged from the early twentieth century onward (see e.g. Valkenburg, Peter & Walther, 2016). Many early takes on the results of digital video games approached their matter from a technological determinism perspective, through which digital video games had been studied because the determinants of consumer conduct, disregarding gamers attitudes, interplay and context as a part of their results. These research targeted their efforts on shading gentle on the fears in regards to the potential damaging results that dominated societal debates (e.g. Cooper & Mackie, 1986). However, after their technological domestication, and the additional improvement of the sphere of recreation research, the eye shifted into offering understanding on the constructive results of digital video games (e.g. Bediou et al., 2023).Nowadays, analysis executed throughout the sphere of recreation research has offered sufficient information to grasp that video games and play are multifaceted and sophisticated, and understanding their results requires placing every research in context and being attentive to concrete facets of video games, gamers and society. This particular subject is the second quantity of this Research Topic with which we goal to additional increase the notice in regards to the complexity of the results of digital video games, in addition to the broad spectrum of each their potential constructive and damaging results. The first particular subject (Reer et al., 2024) included fourteen articles. The present particular subject provides to that with a complete of ten papers introduced in three sections discussing three sides of digital video games results: the sunshine, the darkish and the grey space between the 2 extremes.
This part consists of 5 papers that discover the potential constructive impacts or purposes of digital gaming, offering new insights on the sunshine facet of digital video games and play.The research by Cahill, Cummings and Werts (2025) explores gamers’ motivations to make use of video games as instruments for coping and emotional regulation. Their survey research makes use of the dual theoretical lenses of temper administration and stress response concept, to discover this matter. The authors spotlight that their outcomes present clear proof that immersion and motivation are key components to grasp the function of video games as instruments utilized by gamers for emotional regulation and dealing with stress. In their paper, concrete mediating components equivalent to narrative involvement and social interplay are mentioned in relation to this matter.Another constructive software of gaming that has been explored by a number of authors up to now decade is the function of video games to foster intergenerational communication. Sun et al. ( 2025) contribute to earlier research on this matter by exploring how metaphorical life video games can be utilized to facilitate intergenerational communication between youngsters and adults. The authors discovered that the life evaluate dynamic a part of metaphorical life video games facilitates intergenerational communication by: (1) offering a communication local weather; (2) fostering symmetrical interplay amongst completely different generations and (3) facilitating metaphorical expression. Daneels, Poels and Vandebosch’s (2025) research goals to grasp how video games function a method to regulate boredom. By utilizing an internet vignette-style survey, they utilized the which means and attentional element mannequin to check how significant gaming could be to people who expertise several types of boredom. They discovered that three thirds of their respondents have a tendency to manage boredom by enjoying digital video games. Their outcomes additionally counsel that video games providing hedonic experiences are chosen over video games providing eudaimonic expertise by each people with excessive and low cognitive sources.Bouzek and colleagues (2025) explored the function of playful engagement and interactions amongst recreation trade professionals throughout digital conferences. By conducting 38 semistructured interviews, the authors collected information of three several types of manifestations of play throughout these conferences, together with using avatars and playful backgrounds for self-representations, gameplay throughout conferences and playful technological experimentation. The findings present that playful engagement is especially helpful throughout brainstorm oriented conferences, and is mostly used amongst indie recreation studios. 2025) performed a combination strategies on-line research to discover if and the way digital video games can be utilized as a instrument in psychoeducation aimed toward destigmatizing melancholy. The authors made use of an intervention through which individuals had been requested to observe gaming movies of a digital recreation about melancholy and write down facets of the movies that left an enduring impression on them. Their findings counsel that this technique is efficient in supporting melancholy destigmatization.

Offering a counterpoint to the earlier part, this part consists of three articles that discover the doable damaging results of digital video games and play.A subject that’s at the moment central in educational research in regards to the darkish facet of enjoying is the connection between on-line gaming and extremism. Greipl and colleagues (2025) discover this matter by learning the connection between gameplay motivations and indicators of radical attitudes and conspiracy beliefs. The major discovering of this paper is that the authors weren’t capable of finding any sturdy proof of gaming as a simple driver of extremism. On the opposite, gaming in relation to extremism and radicalization must be studied as a posh context-dependent area that may each facilitate but additionally stop radicalization topic to the person circumstances of the participant.Newhouse and Kowert’s ( 2025) research additionally supplies insights into the connection between gaming and extremism. In concrete the authors dive into extremism identification creation practices on Steam. This research supplies proof on how Steam neighborhood options are utilized by huge teams to share hateful and violent content material, selling collective mobilization and radicalization. The authors conclude this research by reflecting on how these practices turn into a risk to gaming communities and people who use Steam in connection to their gaming actions.Another matter that has gained consideration since Esports grew to become mainstream is the wellbeing of Esport gamers. Kang and Kim (2025) contribute to this subject with a research on the components influencing the profession longevity of Esport gamers. The authors conclude that present practices within the trade, together with exploitative contractual practices and intense coaching schedules are figuring out components for brief profession paths and burnout experiences.
The remaining part includes two papers that discover the results of video games from a impartial perspective, that may fall into each the sunshine or darkish facet of gaming, relying on the appliance.In relation to the research of the steadiness between each the darkish and the sunshine facet of gaming, Aleksić and colleagues (2025) have analyzed the in-game posters within the Fallout recreation sequence to establish how these painting ideologies and conflicts. In the research they mixed concept from the sphere of propaganda research with the help of a multimodal framework for the evaluation. Their outcomes present that there’s a prevalence of textdominant posters through which metonymy is essentially the most frequent determine of speech used.Another research performed by Hébert-Ratté and her colleagues (2025) dives into the traits of skilled feminine avid gamers. The outcomes of their survey reveals that skilled feminine video games present larger gaming involvement than non-expert feminine gamers. Furthermore, these gamers additionally appear to precise having extra curiosity in social, competitors, talent improvement and recreation game-related facets than informal feminine gamers.It is with this gray space that we shut the two-part particular subject. Over the course of enhancing the 24 articles, we frequently thought in regards to the dichotomy that we initially selected for the title. We absolutely acknowledge that dichotomies equivalent to darkish/gentle or constructive/damaging at all times over-simplify the complicated nature of actuality. At the identical time they do have their makes use of, and we absolutely anticipate scholarship into the results of digital video games and play to proceed using them. For now, although, we want to remind the reader that lots of the articles printed over the 2 particular points highlighted the difficult and even unpredictable methods through which digital gaming could be interwoven into our lives. We additionally encourage students to proceed on their quest of teasing out relationships and results regardless of the potential challenges. Games and play matter, and it’s as much as analysis to indicate how precisely.