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Definitions and Misunderstandings in Game Studies: An Interview with Espen Aarseth

Chapter of: Historiographies of Game Studies: What It Has Been, What It Could Be(pp. 121–145)

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Metadata
TitleDefinitions and Misunderstandings in Game Studies
SubtitleAn Interview with Espen Aarseth
ContributorCody Mejeur(author)
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.53288/0441.1.06
Landing pagehttps://punctumbooks.com/titles/historiographies-of-game-studies-what-it-has-been-what-it-could-be/
Licensehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
CopyrightCody Mejeur
Publisherpunctum books
Published on2025-07-25
Long abstractEspen Aarseth is professor of game studies and head of the PhD School at the IT University of Copenhagen. He has served as the Editor-in-Chief of Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research since its founding in 2000. Frequently referred to as a founding figure in game studies and a prominent ludologist, he knows the arguments of the field through the years well through firsthand experience and many publications, including the still frequently cited Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature. Aarseth’s work has frequently investigated the ontologies and typologies of games, and his recent research has examined the theories and uses of characters as they exist in games and other media. In this interview, Aarseth and Mejeur talk about Aarseth’s work in game studies, including his perspective on the disagreements, tensions, and misunderstandings in the field, as well as his hopes for its interdisciplinary futures. Topics include the process of establishing an interdisciplinary field, how game studies relates to other media and fields, academic departments and structures for game studies, regional differences in game studies, and current and future trends in the field.
Page rangepp. 121–145
Print length25 pages
LanguageEnglish (Original)
Contributors

Cody Mejeur

(author)
Assistant Professor of Game Studies at University at Buffalo, State University of New York
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1629-1722

Cody Mejeur (they/them) is Assistant Professor of Game Studies at University at Buffalo, SUNY. Their work uses games to theorize narrative as an embodied and playful process that constructs how we understand ourselves, our realities, and our differences. They have published on games pedagogy, gender and queerness in games, and video game narratives and player experiences, and they are currently the game director for Trans Folks Walking, a narrative game about trans experiences. They are Director of the Amatryx Gaming Lab & Studio at UB and work with the LGBTQ Video Game Archive on preserving and visualizing LGBTQ representation. They are an executive council member for the International Society for the Study of Narrative and they served as Diversity Officer for the Digital Games Research Association.

Espen Aarseth

(contributions by)
Professor of Game Studies at IT University of Copenhagen
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5665-9424

Espen Aarseth (he/him) is Professor of Game Studies and head of the Center for Computer Games Research at the IT University of Copenhagen. He holds a Cand.Philol. in comparative literature and a Dr.Art. in humanistic informatics, both from the University of Bergen. He is co-founding Editor-in-Chief of the journal Game Studies (2001–) and author of Cybertext: Perspectives on Ergodic Literature (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), a foundational text in the fields of electronic literature, game studies, and new media studies. He received an ERC Advanced Grant for the project MSG — Making Sense of Games (2016–2021).