Dishonored 2

How Video Games Can Make You a Better Journalist

Caio Sampaio's book "Level Up: How Video Games Can Make You a Better Journalist" argues that journalists facing fierce competition for audience attention in a content-saturated, smartphone-driven media environment can learn powerful storytelling techniques from video game design.

• Video games' participatory and immersive nature makes storytelling easier to absorb than text, since players are part of the story rather than reading passively for hours.
• Augmented reality failed for Esquire's 2009 interactive cover because it was a gimmick that did not make the magazine more informative, whereas USA Today's 2020 AR investment focused on informative content, such as its Kent State Shootings app that projects a map onto any surface to detail the 1970 events.
• Audio storytelling such as radio plays stimulates imagination because listeners project their own memories and personalities onto the scene, creating a more personal and engaging experience.