The Virtual Killing of Muslims: Digital War Games, Islamophobia, and the Global War on Terror

Abstract

This article argues that digital war games communicate misleading stereotypes about Muslims that prop up patriarchal militarism and Islamophobia in the context of the US-led Global War on Terror. The article's first section establishes the relevance of the study of digital war games to feminist games studies, feminist international relations, and post-colonial feminism. The second section contextualizes the contemporary production and consumption of digital war games with regard to the “military-digital-games complex” and real and simulated military violence against Muslims, focusing especially on the US military deployment of digital war games to train soldiers to kill in real wars across Muslim majority countries. The third section probes “mythical Muslim” stereotypes in ten popular digital war games released between 2001 and 2012:Conflict: Desert Storm(2002),Conflict: Desert Storm 2(2003),SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs(2002),Full Spectrum Warrior(2004),Close Combat: First to Fight(2005),Battlefield 3(2011),Army of Two(2008),Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare(2007),Medal of Honor(2010), andMedal of Honor: Warfighter(2012). These games immerse players in patriarchal fantasies of “militarized masculinity” and place a “mythical Muslim” before their weaponized gaze to be virtually killed in the name of US and global security. The conclusion discusses the stakes of the stereotyping and othering of Muslims by digital war games, and highlights some challenges to Islamophobia in the digital games industry.