(Dis)abled engagements: the ableist structures of videogameplay

Abstract

Videogameplay is an activity that requires a player to overcome different challenges in order to access more content. In the quest to conquer these challenges, the player is constantly engaging with modes of ability and disability.

This study examines how ableism, the system of oppression in favour of people without disabilities, is structured in the space and activity of single-player videogameplay. Furthermore, it seeks to explore what kinds of elements are found in videogame space and videogameplay that invite the player to act according to an ableist binary. The ableist binary is a structure of hierarchical power that maintains ideas of being ‘able-bodied’ or ‘disabled’ as oppositional modes. In addition, this study seeks to answer in what ways playable characters with disabilities fit into the ableist binary of videogameplay.

These questions are studied via the methods of formal analysis and autoethnography, and through the concepts of ableism, videogameplay and videogame space. First I will focus on examining the structures of health and skill systems in the videogame spaces and videogameplays of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (2014), as well as how these structures relate to performance evaluation, attunement and the pleasure of videogameplay. Then, I will explore videogameplay with characters who have disabilities in You Are Disabled (2013), and explore how themes of disability and ability have been previously studied in videogame studies.

The study concludes that structuring the videogameplay experience through different elements that function according to an ableist binary is central to the captivation and pleasure of videogameplay regardless of the title. As such, the connection between ableism and videogames is found to be an under-researched field of study. Illuminating these aspects of videogameplay raise our essential understanding about videogames as popular culture and indicate the necessity of disability studies in the field of videogame research. On the other hand, videogame research can offer disability studies valuable insight into how our virtual spaces continue to be built with inherently ableist structures in place.