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The Russian political elite and power image constructing peculiarities in contemporary video games (on the Metro Exodus materials) // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2024. Issue 2 (40). P. 57-78

This article studies the phenomenon of video games as instruments of constructing ideas about historical and political reality in the mass consciousness. In the modern world, video games became one of the most popular forms of entertainment along with other types of visual content – cinema, animation, online and print publications, etc. However, due to the specific technical tools, video games represent a fundamentally new means of constructing meanings because they create the effect of the player’s immersion and presence in a virtual reality. Such interactivity makes it possible for video games to be especially effective in broadcasting certain values and patterns of behavior to players, forming a specific socio-cultural reality around them. All the mentioned makes video games not only a kind of entertainment but a serious “soft power” tool for modern states. In the study, the authors make an attempt to find out the images and tools that allow modern video games form a certain reality in the mass consciousness. For this purpose, the authors use the case-study as a method of descriptive analysis, B. F. Skinner’s theory of operant conditioning, Tajfel and Turner’s social identity theory, and the method of expert interviewing. The authors resort not only to the theoretical understanding of the essence of video games based on foreign and domestic research in the sphere of game studies, but also to a practical analysis of the mechanisms used by the creators of video games to form a specific world view for gamers on the example of the Russian game Metro Exodus. The game action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world – an alternative Russia of the future, where people are forced to survive after a technogenic disaster. The game contains a lot of images of the Russian political elite, among which are a member of a secret service, controlling the media and oppressed population – the personification of the Russian government; a priest, deceiving his flock and connected with the criminal – the personification of the Russian Orthodox Church; the military and employees of the Ministry of Defence, literally “devouring” the population – the personification of militarism and the state of military structures in modern Russia; an oppressive southern autocrat, controlling the oil reserves and oppressing a local population – probably an allusion to the raw materials economy of Russia and related problems. The game’s creators use various visual problems, referring to the modern Russia, for instance, modified emblems with double-headed eagles, architecture which is typical to Russian cities, Russian military uniforms. The game plot is based on the victory of players over negative characters representing the Russian government– according to that, the authors of the article conclude that this video game forms similar patterns of behavior in the minds of players, whose ultimate goal is to overthrow the current state system in Russia. Along with that, the authors conclude that it is quite difficult now to evaluate the degree of emotional perception of these patterns among gamers. This will be possible only if an active protest movement in Russia arises.

Keywords: programming visualization, mass consciousness, political image, historical perceptions, entertainment