Value Formations in a Video-Game-Franchise. A Comparison of Value Formations in “The Last of Us” (2013) and “The Last of Us: Part II” (2020) (seit 2020)

The video games “Last of Us” (2013) and “Last of Us 2” (2020) caused heated discussions during their release periods. While the first game prompted players’ to reflect on their moral compass through depictions of difficult decisions in crisis situations, the second instalment, published in the middle of the corona-pandemic, caused a polarizing controversy about ideological messages and representations of the depicted content and characters. The actors’ arguments often referred beyond the games to current social and political controversies and give insight into player’s personal values and value conflicts (between players, but also between players and the games and other actors). Research in video games and religion has shown that this is not an isolated phenomenon, but exemplary for the significance of video games for their player’s value expression and negotiation beyond the pop cultural context.
In my project, I investigate these value-formations by actors more closely in the vicinity of video games (gamevironements). I examine how negotiations of values ​​take place through different interrelated contexts (USK age-rating, journalistic reception, social media discourse, gaming practice) in the German-speaking context: Which values ​​and value conflicts appear most prominently? How do groups of actors differ in their value-formations? Which communicative practices are dominant in these contexts? – All of this will be executed along a comparison between the two games, framed as one discourse by their connection as a franchise. The time frame of eight years (2013-2020) with special regard to the social and political crises during that time, makes potential changes in values observable. Therefore, changes in values and changes in value negotiation practices in this increasingly mediatized field are also objects of investigation. This project will describe and theorize value-formations using a video game franchise as an example. Additionally, the benefit of an investigation of values compared to an investigation of religion for research on video games and religion will be tested and reflected upon.