Greek Game Developers' Opinions on the Representation and Reception of (Ancient) Greece in Games: An Exploratory Interview Pilot Study

This pilot study examines how Greek game developers perceive the representation and reception of ancient Greece in video games, bridging classical reception studies with regional game studies, a combination the authors argue has been largely absent from prior scholarship. The paper positions itself against a body of work that has focused overwhelmingly on games from North American and Western European studios, and it argues that the Greek game sector, which has only recently been reclassified as art and entertainment and is still small, deserves attention in its own right. The study is presented as a first step, with its preliminary findings intended to be expanded and refined through further research.

The empirical basis is a set of twelve semi-structured interviews conducted in autumn 2023 with Greek game developers, eleven working in video games and one in analog games. Participants included staff at Greek studios, freelancers, and Greek nationals in senior creative roles at non-Greek companies. Interviews averaged about 49 minutes and covered motivations for making or avoiding ancient Greek-themed games, views on representation and historical accuracy, personal affinity with Greek history and mythology, and the question of who should create such games. Several specific titles were also discussed with their creators.

The central findings describe two broad modes of thinking among the developers. The first is a largely positive stance rooted in lifelong fascination with ancient Greece, often coupled with a desire to share that passion with wider audiences and sometimes with educational goals. The second is more reticent, held by developers who had not previously made ancient Greek-themed work. They cited overexposure to classical material in popular entertainment and their own surroundings, a sense of being unentitled to represent a heritage they had not worked with, and discomfort with associations between antiquity and extreme political ideologies. The paper also flags further themes for analysis, including views on non-Greek representations of antiquity, the relationship between ancient and modern Greek identity, and the representation of contemporary Greece in games.