{"id":269936,"date":"2021-12-13T11:30:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T16:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/issues\/how-online-gaming-is-a-growing-tool-for-political-mobilization\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T23:45:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T03:45:55","slug":"how-online-gaming-is-a-growing-tool-for-political-mobilization","status":"publish","type":"issues","link":"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/12\/how-online-gaming-is-a-growing-tool-for-political-mobilization\/","title":{"rendered":"How online gaming is a growing tool for political mobilization"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the last week of Canada\u2019s 2021 federal election campaign, Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada\u2019s progressive New Democratic Party, made a \u201cbig\u201d announcement. He tweeted<\/a>, \u201cWe\u2019re launching our very own island on Animal Crossing! If you visityou can learn more about our campaign and how to get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was an invitation to players of Nintendo\u2019s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a social simulation game for the Nintendo Switch, where players explore virtual islands and develop customized communities populated with anthropomorphic animals. Visitors to Singh\u2019s island, aptly named \u201cCanada,\u201d encountered<\/a> NDP-branded content including an orange-coloured poutine food truck, recreations of Indigenous art and campaign talking points posted to the town\u2019s bulletin board.<\/p>\n

Singh\u2019s campaign is not the first to deploy this mobilization tactic. The 2020 Biden-Harris presidential campaign rolled out campaign yard signs that players could place around their islands to show their support for the Democratic ticket and set up a \u201cBiden HQ<\/a>\u201d island with information about the campaign and how to vote in real life.<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> with Vice<\/em>, Amneet Singh, the NDP\u2019s deputy director of outreach (digital), explained why the party invested time and resources to create this virtual space: \u201cAnimal Crossing is a place where a lot of folks have congregated. We wanted to meet them where they were, so we set up an island to show them what we\u2019re about, what Jagmeet\u2019s about, and how they can get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most folks playing the game are in their 20s and 30s, with about half identifying as men and half identifying as women, according<\/a> to Animal Crossing\u2019s development team.<\/p>\n

Big data, social media and political fundraising laws have transformed election campaigns<\/a><\/p>\n

The key role of political parties\u2019 digital strategies in the federal election<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This was not Jagmeet Singh\u2019s first foray into the information ecosystem where politics and video games intersect. In November 2020, he teamed up<\/a> with U.S. representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on live-streaming platform Twitch to play the galactic social deduction game Among Us. The two worked together to identify and eject imposters into the vacuum of space. Their collaboration represents an effort by politicians to traverse an uncharted political frontier to reach young voters. Twitch advertises<\/a> its user base as being overwhelmingly between the ages of 16 and 34.<\/p>\n

To some observers, it may seem that Singh and Ocasio-Cortez are boldly going where no one has gone before. However, before politicians in North America started to incorporate video games and popular internet gaming platforms into their digital strategies<\/a> to disseminate political messages and motivate voters, a different mission played out across the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n

In April 2020, a few months before the launch of Biden HQ, Hong Kong protesters were forced inside due to COVID-19. Looking for an exciting way to engage others with their message, pro-democracy activists including Joshua Wong started turning Animal Crossing\u2019s customizable virtual islands into a political medium. Wong tweeted<\/a> about his island representing a virtual protest site calling it \u201ca new kind of protest tool\u201d useful for when physical demonstrations cannot be held. Players approaching Wong\u2019s house are greeted with a sign that says, \u201cFree Hong Kong Revolution Now\u201d and a pair of paintings depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Activist Joshua Wong on Jan. 1, 2020, in Hong Kong, during a pro-democracy protest. Shutterstock.com, by Fred Marie<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shortly after, foreign editions of Animal Crossing disappeared<\/a> from Chinese e-commerce sites Taobao and Pinduoduo. The National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), China\u2019s video game regulator, had yet to issue a licence for the game, meaning it was technically an illegal import. The NPPA has powers that include reviewing a game\u2019s content to ensure it aligns with China\u2019s cultural values and requiring foreign-based companies to partner with a Chinese firm such as Tencent to publish games in the Chinese market.<\/p>\n

At the end of August 2021, Beijing implemented new restrictions<\/a> targeting video games, ostensibly enacted to curb video game addiction in China\u2019s youth. NPPA\u2019s mandates build on previous action to limit time spent playing games to just three hours per week and require players to provide their real names to log in. However, the measures are more than efforts to address addictive behaviour. They are part of the government\u2019s larger ideological concern about Western culture, a crackdown on Chinese technology companies and an endeavour to extend its surveillance capabilities to every corner of society.<\/p>\n

The willingness of the Chinese government to exercise draconian control over these technological points also gives the state the ability to pressure companies outside of China. If foreign companies like Activision Blizzard or Nintendo want access to the lucrative Chinese market, they must comply with the government\u2019s content reviews and identification demands. This puts companies in the position of having to decide whether to censor content that is deemed offensive by the Chinese Communist Party or risk losing market access because they are no longer in regulatory compliance.<\/p>\n

Game companies have experienced this for years. In 2019, when Activision Blizzard took punitive action against a professional Hearthstone player who demonstrated his support for the Hong Kong protests during a post-match interview, the company found itself embroiled in a geopolitical controversy<\/a>. Democratic activists on both sides of the Pacific organized a boycott against the company, which was seen as kowtowing to China and censoring political speech. Known as #BoycottBlizzard, the movement consisted of players uninstalling Activision Blizzard games, protesting outside the company\u2019s annual convention and discussing the merits of the video game industry\u2019s business model. The boycott received support from several bipartisan members of Congress including Ocasio-Cortez and Senators Ron Wyden and Marco Rubio.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A man playing Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch in March 2020. Shutterstock.com, by Wachiwit<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nintendo also recognized political activities taking place on its platform might bring unwanted scrutiny. After the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign, Nintendo released guidelines<\/a> for businesses and other organizations using Animal Crossing as a promotional tool. One of the guidelines reads: \u201cPlease also refrain from bringing politics into the Game.\u201d However, it is not clear when the company will enforce the guidelines, considering Singh\u2019s Canadian federal election campaign ran its Animal Crossing operation months after the guidelines were released. Perhaps Nintendo never saw the content. Perhaps the company only takes action against political activity it deems detrimental to its bottom line.<\/p>\n

While the geopolitical gaming landscape is still shifting, three tendencies seem apparent. First, politicians in democratic societies view video games as a space to reach young voters, leading political campaigns to incorporate video games into their digital outreach operations. Second, video games as digital platforms represent a potential threat to authoritarian regimes\u2019 political stability, leading digital dictators to restrict video game access and censor content. Third, for game companies looking to operate in both the American and Chinese markets, executives must consider the political and subsequent economic consequences of their content and operations.<\/p>\n

Wong is currently in jail for violating China\u2019s national security law passed in 2020 that criminalizes secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces. While he was sentenced<\/a> for organizing a physical protest outside of Hong Kong\u2019s police headquarters and participating in a vigil marking the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, it is easy to imagine Chinese authorities surveilling video game spaces for political dissidents and arresting the real individuals behind the avatars. It is also easy to imagine future political campaigns in democracies across the globe targeting people in the virtual realms where they congregate. Welcome to the era of geopolitical gaming, where the flames of rebellion and political ads can all be found on Nintendo Switch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the last week of Canada\u2019s 2021 federal election campaign, Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada\u2019s progressive New Democratic Party, made a \u201cbig\u201d announcement. He tweeted, \u201cWe\u2019re launching our very own island on Animal Crossing! If you visityou can learn more about our campaign and how to get involved.\u201d This was an invitation to players of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":244429,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T03:45:58Z","apple_news_api_id":"22ac5aa5-e665-4fe5-91e1-35af2479b9b1","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T03:45:58Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AIqxapeZlT-WR4TWvJHm5sQ","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9385,9358,9372],"tags":[8404,8671,9132],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4217,4295,4337],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[7092,7136],"class_list":["post-269936","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medias-et-culture","category-politique","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-china-fr","tag-connectivity-fr","tag-politique-canadienne","irpp-category-affaires-internationales","irpp-category-politique","irpp-category-science-et-technologie","irpp-tag-chine","irpp-tag-medias-et-culture"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow online gaming is a growing tool for political mobilization<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/fr\/2021\/12\/how-online-gaming-is-a-growing-tool-for-political-mobilization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How online gaming is a growing tool for political mobilization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the last week of Canada\u2019s 2021 federal election campaign, Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada\u2019s progressive New Democratic Party, made a \u201cbig\u201d announcement. 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