Analyzing the hegemonic components of American digital games: A case study of 5 military games

Digital games, as one of the new and influential media with a massive and global audience, have created a good opportunity for Western governments to consolidate their military, political and ideological goals. The cooperation of digital game producers with the US army and military system has provided game makers with the idea of real wars and conflicts, which they use for the entertainment industry and to stimulate the minds of players around the world. These games, which are considered among the most expensive games to produce and distribute, control an army of players in the world. With the aim of identifying the hegemonic components in American games, this study analyzed 5 games produced by this country, namely Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Generals, Medal of Honor and Army of Two. This qualitative study was conducted using the qualitative content analysis method and gameplay analysis and observation tools. After coding, extracting categories, and classifying them into 5 main categories, the findings from the content analysis were categorized into 13 subcategories. This study shows that the ideological concepts of anti-Orientalism, American supremacy, and anti-Islamism are clearly and sometimes analyzable in the game's metatext. These six games, with three basic categories: 1-Othering and enemy representation, 2-Western cultural and political hegemony, 3-Islamophobia, 4-Patriotism and nationalism, and 5-Ideology of security and constant threat, deal with unconventional and unfair representations of Islam and Muslims.