Ethics and Video Games Podcast
by Shlomo Sher and Andy Ashcraft
We explore controversial ethical issues about video games (e.g. what should be censored), in video games (e.g. what counts as cheating), and in video game design (e.g. what works to make a game morally interesting). Your hosts are Shlomo Sher, Ph.D. (Philosophy Professor and Video Game Ethicist) and Andy Ashcraft (Veteran Video Game Designer and Professor).
Episodes
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Episode 77 – THE BIG PICTURE!
After 76 episodes and 11 years of talking about ethics and video games, we're ready to give you.... THE BIG PICTURE! - an organized overview of all of the ethical issues in the world of video games we're currently aware of in terms of the responsiblities that different stakeholders in this world...
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Episode 76 – Older Players in Video Games(with Bob De Schutter)
There are over 50 million players over the age of 50 in the USA alone and those numbers will only continue to grow for an activity that's too often viewed as "kids' stuff". How and when do older players engage with online gaming communities? Do designers need to be concerned about monetizing...
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Episode 75 – Fighting Extremism in Games (with Rachel Kowert)
Games are particularly fertile grounds for extremist recruitment. Why is that? What's special about games and gaming culture that might make them attractive spaces for recruitment? How does extremist recruitment work in games? What is being done about it right now? And what can be done to help...
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Episode 74 – When Games simulate Real World Cultures For Profit (With Andrei Zanescu)
When game companies simulate cultures in their games they usually focus on the tropes that their intended audiences have about those cultures and then design their game around those tropes. Is there anything wrong with that? If so, what? What can game designers do to present cultures – present…
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Episode 73 – How Gaming treats the Global South (with Aditya Deshbandhu)
Gaming and game development work differently for the developed global north than the developing global south. What are those differences? How does the global south play and pay differently? Why is it so hard to start a game development company in the global south? How can the gaming world better...
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Episode 72 – Battle Passes (with Daniel Joseph)
In a couple of recent episodes guests have mentioned concerns about battle passes. So, in this episode we decided to explore how they work, how they differ from traditional subscription models or microtransactions, why they're so popular today with game companies, and whether they raise any…
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Episode 71 – Women in Esports (with Theresa Lee, Joseph Sarnoski, and Kelly Williams)
What can college esport teams do to blunt harassment against female players and make esports more inclusive? Are they in a unique position to help solve these problems in esports? We chat with representatives from Kean University about their attempts to make their own esport teams more inclusive…
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Episode 70 – Ethical Advertising in Games (with Celia Pontin)
How can ads for video games and for stuff in games be deceptive or manipulative? What do they need to consider when targeting kids? What sort of guidance do they get from governments or their own industry groups? We chat with Dr. Celia Pontin, former UK advertising regulator specializing in video...
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Episode 69 – When Video Games Get Kinky (with Kate Gray)
In this episode we explore some of the ethical issues related to kinks in video games – mostly adult ones. How can games allow us to explore kinks? What are some ethical pitfalls designers should consider? How do issues like representation and consent fit in?...
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Episode 68 – Ethical Issues With Adult Games (With Fae Daunt)
We've rarely discussed the specific category of adult games on this podcast. So, we do so here and now and honestly, with a bit more speculation and off-the-cuff "let's try this idea out and see if it sticks" mentality. We explore whether adult games should be treated differently than other types...
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Episode 67 - Player sexuality and consent (With Fae Daunt + Zhia Zariko)
What should we think about when we bring sex and intimacy into video games? In this episode, we explore issues of player sexuality, in-game intimacy, representations of consent, and how video games can take chances and explore sexuality responsibly. --------------------------- Our guest for this...
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Episode 66 – Video Game Design Lessons from Moral Psychology (with Paul Formosa and Malcolm Ryan)
How do players morally engage with games? What can user experience research and moral psychology tell us about how players experience and think about ethical decisions in games? We chat with philosopher Paul Formosa and Game Designer Malcolm Ryan about their collaborative ongoing research…
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Episode 65 - Problems with Games and History (with Bram De Ridder)
Games are supposed to be fun and playing in a historical setting or replaying historical events can be really fun. But when does the use of history become morally problematic by misrepresenting that history, leaving out alternative perspectives, or failing to communicate to the player when the…
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Episode 64 – Monster Ethics (with Dom Ford)
The monsters we see in video games are usually antagonists that we destroy without remorse. But what is a monster and are there ethical questions that arise in relation to how they're represented? In what ways can monsters utilize racist and sexist tropes in harmful ways? Can we treat a type of...
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Episode 63 - The challenges of making a game about domestic violence against children (with Mathew Staunton)
How would you make a game about a topic as important, complex, hard to talk about,, and NOT fun at all as domestic violence against children? We chat with Mathew Staunton about his game in progress on this topic and the ethical and design challenges it faces. --------------------------- Our guest...
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Episode 62 - The challenges of using an AI to reduce toxicity in games (with Camille Guillemot)
Toxicity in online gaming is an incredibly complex problem to solve. Teams of moderators often seem hopelessly outmatched by the amount of toxicity and its sometimes ambiguous nature. But, what if we brought an AI into the game to help us with both toxicity and fraud by bots, which are…
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Episode 61 - The Ethics of Making Money on Twitch or YouTube (with Mark Johnson)
Making money playing games on Twitch or YouTube sounds like a dream come true! But money never comes without strings attached. Streamers face pressures to build up their audience, ask for financial support, land and keep sponsors. It's hard work and many burn out. Meanwhile, there's questions…
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Episode 60 – Which monetization tactics are truly predatory? (with Elena Petrovskaya)
This is part 2 of our first two-part exploration of predatory monetization. Our guest, Elena Petrovskaya has been researching player complaints about monetization and has categorized them into 35 different types of potentially predatory monetization techniques – from pay or wait to the use of...
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Episode 59 – 35 potentially predatory monetization tactics (with Elena Petrovskaya)
When it comes to monetization in games, what do players see as misleading, unfair, or aggressive? Elena Petrovskaya asked this question to over 1000 players and organized their complaints to create a taxonomy of 35 potentially predatory monetization techniques organized under 8 different domains....
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Episode 58 - Politics Tyranny and Citizenship in Video Games (with James "Pigeon" Fielder)
When a player steps into a game, often that game will have a political structure and the player's choices in that structure may respond to their sense of justice. That sense of justice can also connect us as groups or factions in games. Can these factions engage in unethical in-game political...
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Episode 57 - The Ethics of Play to Earn -Part 2 (with Tom Rodgers)
Putting blockchain and NFTs into games and marketing that as Play to Earn promises a revolution in gaming that will make money for both game studios and players. It's a win-win for everybody! – or is it just hype created by cryptobros to ruin games by turning them into money-making machines? What...
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Episode 57 - The Ethics of Play to Earn (Part 1)
Putting blockchain and NFTs into games and marketing that as Play to Earn promises a revolution in gaming that will make money for both game studios and players. It's a win-win for everybody! – or is it just hype created by cryptobros to ruin games by turning them into money-making machines? What...
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Episode 56 - Loot Boxes and the Law (with Leon Xiao)
Most players think that loot boxes (essentially randomized rewards schemes) are a form of gambling, and many are concerned that they'll bring the same dangers of gambling to gaming. Some have called for governments to regulate loot boxes in games as they do with other forms of gambling. What have...
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Episode 55 – The Growing Gamblification of Video Games
Games have been getting more and more gamblified in recent years. This has occurred both within games and in terms of gambling on esports and game items out of the games themselves. What is gamblification in video games? How does it occur? Where can we expect it to lead? And should we be…
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Episode 54 – How the Games and Online Harassment Hotline Can Help (with Jae Lin)
Players, game devs, artists, voice actors, marketing people, and everyone else that works in the game industry - even game design students - sometimes need to talk to someone who understands how the video game universe can be uniquely emotionally taxing and difficult to navigate. The Games and...
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Episode 53 - How Video games Depict Madness (with Stefan Simond)
We're always interested in the way that video games depict us. One topic that we think has got too little attention is that of how games depict madness, mental illness, insanity…. We chat about the ways video games approach madness, common gaming tropes about madness and psychiatric institutions....
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Episode 52 - How Video Games Represent Poverty (with Adam Crowley)
We encounter poverty in lots in games. We might play in a GTA-"ghetto" or interact with people in a "slum" using common tropes our culture has about the poor. We might be poor ourselves and set out to level up through the tropes of wealth and power. Sometimes our real world economic capacity can...
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Episode 50 – Trash Talk in Esports (with Sydney Irwin)
In esports, players trash talk, fans trash talk – even commentators trash talk! Sometimes trash talk is fun harmless banter, but other times is unsportsmanlike and shows disrespect for the game or other players. And, of course, trash talk can easily turn into harassment. What norms do esports…
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Episode 51 – The challenge of Creative Collaboration in game development (with Casey O'Donnell)
Game development is often a creative collaboration among people with very different skill sets, passions, and worldviews. What does it mean to treat the people you're working with in projects like these as a part of a team? What does it mean to respect one another? What can be done when...
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Episode 49 - When AIs Compete in real-Time Military Strategy Games (with David Churchill)
When we heard that David Churchill hosts an AI competition with the Real Time Strategy game Starcraft, we were instantly fascinated. We wanted to know what cheating concerns a competition among AIs raises, and also what real world implications arise when training AIs to control strategic military...
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Episode 48 – Gaming and the Environment (with Paula Escuadra)
Have you ever considered how gaming and game companies contribute to environmental problems like global climate change? We haven't! At least not until we spoke and were inspired by our guest Paula Escuadra to think about the many ways that game companies and design can help bring about a greener...
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Episode 47 – Ethics in Pirating in Video Games (with the Studying Pixels Podcast)
Hundreds of millions of players have pirated video games. Most of them didn't feel any guilt about it. Some even felt justified. But game companies, like virtually all producers of creative products, have told us for decades that piracy is wrong – that it's theft somewhat similar to stealing...
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Episode 46 - What if Game Companies did good as B-Corps? (with Justin Michaels of ustwo games)
We're used to the idea of organizations that try to do good as non-profits, but what about for-profit companies – like the great majority of game companies? Some for-profit companies are choosing to play a positive role in the world and to do so as a certified B-Corporation. One of these is ustwo...
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Episode 45 - AI Ethics in Video Games (with Gillian Smith)
It's hard to imagine games without AI, but having AI in games also raises a host of ethical questions involving their use by players and game companies. We explore the possible use of AI for cheating and manipulation, the importance of transparency, and responsibilities of AI's programmers....
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Episode 44 – Why Video Game Companies Need Ethicists! (with Catherine Flick)
Game companies have lawyers to tell them how to operate within the law. They have accountants and data analysts to tell them what is and is not profitable. But it's very rare for them to consult with an ethicist about the morality of their games or operations. Well, we think that's unfortunate…
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Episode 43 – What the Research REALLY Says About the Connection Between Video Games + Violence, Addiction, and Sexism! (with Rachel Kowert)
Video games have been accused of being addictive and making players more violent and sexist. Studies have been cited that confirm these claims. And politicians suggesting laws limiting what video games can do have referenced the "scientific consensus" on these issues. But how does good research…
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Episode 42 - How to be a good Video Game God (with Richard A. Bartle)
Someday people may be gods – all powerful entities able to control the physics of virtual worlds and the functionalities of NPCs. We might even give NPCs free will, a soul, or immortality – who knows what else? In this episode we have fun thinking about some of the moral choices that would come...
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Episode 41 – Religion, Ethics, & Video Games (with Benjamin J. Chicka)
We've done 40 episodes about ethics and video games and the word "God" or "Religion" never came up. How do religion and video games connect with one another and what can the religious ethics of Paul Tyllich tell us about how to approach video games? --------------------------- Our guest, Benjamin...
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Episode 40 – The Ethics of Video Game Research with Ashley Guajarado and Ann Johnson
There's lots of research going on about video games. Some of it involves product testing like VR games or the effectiveness of interfaces. Some of it looks at the impact of gaming on players for things like violence, sexism, and addiction. What ethical concerns come into play when doing research...
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Episode 39: When/how can microtransactions be exploitative? with Ellie Cohen
Video game transactions are a highly unusual, perhaps unique, business model. Our guest Elie Cohen essentially calls it an exploitative scheme where "the house never loses". It's not that they're always bad, but they easily can be exploitative, wrong, or simply "uncool". What can or does make a...
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Episode 38 – Backstabbing ,Scamming, & Treacherous Play (with Marcus Carter)
There's deception in Among Us and bluffing in Poker. But then there are multiplayer games where players you trusted will scam, betray, and backstab you to get ahead. Few things can be as upsetting in a game as being the victim of such treacherous play. But what, if anything, is wrong with playing...
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Episode 37 - The Problem with Meritocracy in Video Games (with Chris Paul)
A meritocratic system is one whose "winners" are those who earn their positions through greatest talent and hard work. That sounds like a good system – a fair one! And video games seem to be a fantastic place for meritocracy to be actualized – a place where, unlike the real world, everyone…
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Episode 36: Why video games need feminism and feminism needs video games (with Shira Chess)
Do men and women see the role of fun or leisure in their life differently? How does this translate to their gaming habits? Can playing like a feminist help bring about gender equality of leisure time? What are gaming circles and how can they help? --------------------------- Our guest, Shira…
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Episode 35 - Is it ever morally wrong to enjoy fantasizing about immoral things? (with Chris Bartel)
Is it ever morally wrong to enjoy fantasizing about immoral things in video games? On the one hand, it's just a fantasy. On the other hand, doesn't it seem that something might be wrong about painfully torturing, raping, or hunting down minorities in a game, even though it's all just fantasy?...
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Episode 34 – How Games Can Make Us More & Less Free (with C. Thi Nguyen)
One way to think about games is as experiences tailored to give us agency – to provide us with clear values and motivations and then force us to overcome obstacles in pursuit of those values and motivations. Engaging our agency in a variety of ways, games can make us more free, but in ways that...
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Episode 33: Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' - An Ethics Review of A Palestinian Liberation Game
In 'Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque' you play as a Palestinian resistance fighter working to end the occupation of Palestine. It's a game where you play someone that looks like a person games typically depict as a terrorist, but from the perspective of that person and his group being the good guys....
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Episode 32 - What can be done about problems of ethics in multiplayer online games (w/Lucy Sparrow)
Online multiplayer games are notorious for having hopelessly toxic environments where harassment and griefing abound. And then there's the cheaters and hackers… Game companies are obviously aware of the problem and have both moral and financial reasons to make player interaction more ethical –…
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Episode 31: How Should Intellectual Property Apply To Video Games? (with Jose Zagal)
When and how much is it ok for one game to "borrow" elements from another game? We often think of these sorts of things through the idea of "intellectual property". What exactly is that idea and how should it apply to video games? --------------------------- Our guest, game scholar Jose Zagal...
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Episode 30: Sexism and the Gamer Identity (with Amanda Cote)
What is it to "be" a gamer? How did the gamer "identity" become both masculinized and marginalized? How has this impacted female players and is the "gamergirl" identity useful or counter-productive for female players? We chat with Dr. Amanda Cote who argues that video games are in a crisis of...
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Episode 29: "Cancel Culture" in gaming [Ethics News & Bits]
John Gibson, the (now former) CEO of Tripwire Games tweeted an opinion about a newly enacted and unpopular Texas law. The Gaming Goat released images of their fishing game-themed game that showed a frog that looked like it was communicating symbols of white power. Both complain that they then...
About this show
We explore controversial ethical issues about video games (e.g. what should be censored), in video games (e.g. what counts as cheating), and in video game design (e.g. what works to make a game morally interesting). Your hosts are Shlomo Sher, Ph.D. (Philosophy Professor and Video Game Ethicist) and Andy Ashcraft (Veteran Video Game Designer and Professor).
Hosted by
Shlomo Sher and Andy Ashcraft
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