Theorizing Digital Games: Play Theories & New Materialism

This extended abstract, presented at DiGRA 2023, proposes a theoretical framework for studying digital games by combining classic philosophy of matter with new materialism. Its central thesis is that digital games should be understood as materialized play, in which the material qualities of games and the players who engage with them are mutually constitutive rather than separate. The author argues that games have been studied largely as intangible experiences, and seeks to bring their material dimensions to the center of theoretical inquiry.

The argument draws on Henri Bergson's account of matter as continuous and on Gaston Bachelard's philosophy of science. Bergson's view holds that the division of matter into discrete objects is an artificial act of perception and knowledge, while Bachelard contends that scientific observation departs from everyday experience through controlled experimentation, with instruments functioning as materialized theory that filters, purifies, and shapes phenomena. The paper's core analogy holds that the materiality of digital games performs a role similar to scientific instruments, enabling players to select, filter, and shape the chaos around them.

The document is a conceptual and theoretical proposal rather than an empirical study. It involves no survey, sample, dataset, or quantitative analysis, and its scope is limited to philosophical and theoretical framing applied to digital games in general. Its methodology consists of revisiting classic texts and integrating them with contemporary new materialist perspectives. The stated aim is to establish a theoretical approach that places digital games at the center of play theory, with keywords identifying the work's domains as play theory, new materialism, and digital games.