Interview with Marcus Carter on Children's Play and Games Studies Discourse

In this interview, Dr. Marcus Carter, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures at the University of Sydney and co-director of the Socio-Tech Futures Lab, discusses his research on children's play and his critique of how gaming, particularly gaming addiction, is framed in mainstream media. He argues that game studies has often approached children's play only through the lenses of educational benefit or potential harm, rather than treating it as worthy of study in its own right, as adult play already is. His own work spans treacherous play in EVE Online, DayZ, and the television show Survivor, and his collaborative research on Minecraft and Fortnite examines why children play particular games and how they move between titles over time.

A central thread of the conversation is Carter's rejection of addiction rhetoric. Drawing on a study with colleagues on children's attitudes toward Fortnite, he notes that young players frequently describe games as "addictive" to mean enjoyable, not pathological, and he cautions that applying addiction framing to all digital play risks overlooking real parental concerns about compulsion. He argues that the concept of "screen time" homogenizes very different activities and that understanding children's gaming requires attention to YouTube, where game content shapes much of young players' engagement, along with the sexist, racist, and homophobic views that circulate among some popular creators.

On gaming during the Covid-19 pandemic, Carter points to the popularity of Animal Crossing: New Horizons as evidence that games offered comfort, community, and a sense of control during restricted movement, with the appeal varying according to individual needs. He concludes that recognizing play as a meaningful part of people's lifeworlds is essential for advancing game studies and countering reductive claims about gaming disorder.