Animal Ethics in Digital Games

This extended abstract examines how animal ethics are represented in digital games, arguing that the depiction of animals is shaped by anthropocentric cultural hegemony in which humans alone produce and control the cultural artefacts that define non-human life. The authors contend that unlike issues of violence, sexualisation, or racial representation in gaming, the ethical treatment of animals remains largely unaddressed, and they seek to extend digital game and cultural studies beyond intra-species concerns. The work frames animal ethics through three moral positions: one denying animals any moral status, a second advocating humane treatment while still treating animals as subordinate resources, and a third recognising animals as sentient beings with intrinsic rights.

Methodologically, the authors conduct qualitative content analyses of selected titles with significant animal representation. Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, and Far Cry 4 are classed as reflecting the first moral position; Shadow of the Colossus and Red Dead Redemption as embodying the second; and Crash Bandicoot, Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector, and The Last Guardian as expressing the third through depictions of rights, ethical treatment, and human-animal symbiosis. The analysis draws on a body of game studies, philosophy of animal ethics, and anthropocentrism scholarship, though the abstract is limited in scale and does not report a formal sample or systematic coding procedure beyond the selection of titles.

The authors conclude that the inclusion of animals in digital games remains an inherently anthropocentric process that serves human interests more than those of animals. Although avant-garde games have contributed to more ethical inclusion, animals are not expected to be active participants in gaming culture. The work nonetheless suggests that non-speciesist approaches, which share digital play spaces with non-human animals in meaningful and non-objectifying ways, remain open possibilities for future design and scholarship.