Computer games have fascinated millions of users for more than 30 years. Today, they constitute the strongest sector in the media-entertainment industry and are part of the experience of digital daily life. Computer Game Studies require a deep understanding of functional and communicational mechanisms of games that support the player’s immersion in virtual worlds. Unfortunately, the discussion and the academic research about usage and effects of computer games mostly takes place isolated within different scientific contexts with various theoretical and methodological approaches. Therefore, this anthology combines the perspectives of Media Studies, Game Studies, and Communication Studies, and presents their findings in an interdisciplinary approach.

Benjamin Bigl is a research assistant at the Institute for Communication and Media Studies at the University of Leipzig. Sebastian Stoppe is a research associate at the Research Academy of the University of Leipzig. Both editors are members of the Zentrum für Wissenschaft und Forschung | Medien e. V.