John Bryans

Research interests

  • Neoliberalism
  • Video Game Addiction
  • Masculinity
  • Mental Health
  • Activision Blizzard
  • Knowledge Translation

Activision and the neoliberal construction of the pathological male gamer.

  • Following the work of Esposito and Perez (2014) concerning the neoliberal commodification of mental health, and in light of the WHO/IICD classification of “gaming disorder”, I argue that to protect the ever-increasing expansion of their corporate interests, gaming publisher, Activision, is compelled to address the issue of problematic gaming (a threat to their expansion) by constructing the archetype of a pathological (male) gamer, using addiction rhetoric that pathologizes the individual rather than looking to the social milieu from which the condition is constructed.
  • Analysis of Activision’s business model, their corporate stance on excessive gaming, and other sources of discourse around pathological gaming and male gamers.
  • Social construction of public health crisis, article forthcoming.
English
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