Fake VS Fictional Games: On Dark and Deceptive Representations of Non-Actual Games

Description

One of the trailers of The Last of Us Part II (Naughty Dog 2020) shows the character Ellie sneaking through enemy territory. She is suddenly joined by Joel, her surrogate father, who tells her he has come to aid her (see PlayStation 2019, 02:18–02:38). This trailer is a lie. In the actual game, the scene shown in the trailer plays out differently, as Joel is, at that point in the narrative, long dead. The game implied by the trailer, one where Ellie and Joel team up once again to fight zombies, does not exist. It is an example of what can be called a fake game. In this presentation, I introduce fake games by contrasting them to games that are, instead, fictional.

Period	4 Jul 2025
Event title	DiGRA 2025: Games at the Crossroads
Event type	Conference
Location	Valletta, MaltaShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International