Echoes of Purgatory in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands

Abstract

Echoes of Purgatory in World of Warcraft: Shadowlands Edward Castronova (bio) Keywords World of Warcraft, Purgatory, Shadowlands However unlikely, the Catholic doctrine of purgatory appears frequently in the popular game WorldofWarcraft. According to what might be called “Tolkien’s replacement theory of fantasy,”1 people use fantasy to access important ideas, especially religious ones, that the real world has lost. As religiosity continues to decline in the real world, video games may actually preserve some of the most important religious ideas. For many people, if these trends continue, purgatory may be knowable from video games and almost nowhere else. We will report on some of these surprising appearances in World of Warcraft: Shadow-lands, then discuss why purgatory might be considered interesting and fun for contemporary gamers. We will then discuss the broader social significance of this and other echoes of religion in video games. I. Introduction: Games and Religion The Social Importance of Games Video games have become one of the world’s most important forms of media. According to the Entertainment Software Association, there are 227 million game-players in the United States.2 This fact may seem astounding, but the reader should keep in mind that the term video [End Page 122] game applies to everything from a violent shoot-em-up to digital solitaire. Two-thirds of America’s “gamers” play casual games like Tetris, Bejeweled, or Candy Crush. Thus, it is perhaps not so surprising that 67 percent of US adults can be called gamers of one form or another.3 The average age of a gamer today is 31, and 80 percent are over 18. Contrary to stereotype, computer gaming is not the exclusive preserve of men: some 45 percent of gamers are female. The difference is in the type of games being played. Women on the whole tend to prefer casual games, while men, especially the young, are more interested in immersive 3D games with long plot lines, many hours of play, and lots of action. Are video games art? They include many elements of traditional art forms: visual representation, sound, movement, and narrative. Unlike all prior arts, video games include the observer as an integral element. Without a player, there simply is no game. To date, video games have not produced a sublime and universal experience on the level of a Sistine Chapel ceiling, but given their use of all the traditional forms, and the zeal of their developers, such an achievement is not out of the question.4 Whatever their artistic merits, video games make money. Indeed, they make shocking amounts of money. Figure 1 shows the most recent figures for annual revenues of three forms of media.5 • Global revenue of the video game industry (2020) • Global revenue of the film industry (2019) • North America revenue of professional sports (2020) The timing of these numbers is significant. The film revenue is pre-COVID-19 and represents what might be called “normal times.” The game revenue is during the pandemic, a time which saw a substantial boost for gaming. The sports revenue shown is also from 2020, a down year for sports. Nonetheless, the differences are astounding. The game industry during COVID-19 was not merely comparable to film before it, it is 75 percent larger ($175 billion vs. $100 billion). During [End Page 123] COVID-19, global game revenue has been more than twice as large as North American sport revenue ($75 billion). Is this an apples-to-oranges comparison? Yes, but nonetheless it gives the reader an accurate sense of the importance of games in society. Video games are not just played by many people; they earn a lot of money. Moreover, the game industry is growing, for good or ill, as traditional media like film, broadcast TV, and news papers decline. It is beyond dispute that video games must be part of any conversation about media in American society. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. The annual revenue of the global game industry has long been greater than that of global film. More surprising recently, and probably due to COVID-19, the game industry in 2020 made more money than...