Key insights
5 slides
Key number
Only one large-scale prior study on consultancy has been identified.
The editorial identifies a 2015 University of Amsterdam master's thesis as the only large-scale prior study of historical consultancy in games.
Gap confirmed. Historical consultancy in games is strikingly underresearched, despite the thriving field of historical game studies.
1 / 5
- 01Historical consultancy in games is strikingly underresearched, with only one large-scale prior study (a 2015 University of Amsterdam master's thesis) and two French books on the Assassin's Creed series identified, while the wider literature mostly mentions consultancy in passing.
- 02This special issue of Homo Ludens, funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, examines how historical consultancy is practised in games with emphasis on Central and Eastern European industries, and identifies the professional competences of historical game consultants.
- 03The project's core online questionnaire targeted professionals in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Serbia, while a preliminary survey covered gamedev organisations in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, and Serbia.
- 04The research includes interviews with Polish analog game developers, predominantly from board games, extending the analysis beyond digital video games.
- 05The authors propose incorporating consultancy training into Polish university history programmes through a higher-education learning-outcomes framework and a modular semester-long syllabus for training historians as game consultants.
- 06Interest in historical consultancy is growing, shown by conference sessions on history and games, seminars presenting consultancy as a historian's career path, and new degree programmes in historical game design and heritage consultancy in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Poland.
- 07The editorial's author concludes that the publication arrives at a timely moment and is likely to have substantial impact on the field.
Ask AI about this article
Summary
This editorial introduces a special issue of Homo Ludens, the journal of the Games Research Association of Poland, devoted to historical consultancy in games. Funded by Poland's Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the research project pursued two aims: to examine how historical consultancy is practised in games, with emphasis on Central and Eastern European video game industries, and to identify the professional competences of historical game consultants and propose ways to incorporate relevant training into history programmes at Polish universities. The work was organised into four tasks yielding six or seven papers, covering a preliminary survey of national gamedev organisations in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Belarus, Lithuania, Estonia, and Serbia; a core online questionnaire of professionals in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Serbia; interviews with Polish analog game developers, predominantly from board games; a higher-education learning-outcomes framework; and a modular semester-long syllabus for training historians as game consultants.
The editorial argues that historical consultancy remains strikingly underresearched despite the thriving field of historical game studies. The author identifies only one large-scale prior study, a 2015 University of Amsterdam master's thesis, along with two French books focused on the Assassin's Creed series, which is described as an exceptional case of public and scholarly attention to its consulting work. Across the wider literature, consultancy typically receives only passing mention.
The editorial points to signs of growing interest, including conference sessions on history and games, seminars presenting game consultancy as a career path for historians, and new degree programmes in historical game design and heritage consultancy at universities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Poland. Taken together, the author concludes that the publication arrives at a timely moment and is likely to have substantial impact.
