Games and meanings: how the game development allows you to teach values and protect historical memory
On June 26, a panel discussion of the EISI "Video games as a tool for teaching values and protecting historical memory" was held at the National Centre RUSSIA. The experts discussed how to promote a socially significant content via the video games, talked about specifics of teaching values in a game format, and about the chances of promoting such products in the Russian and world market.
Opening the discussion, host-moderator Nikita Setov, Deputy Director General of "Polylog" Group of Companies at GR, noted that video games are not just a hobby, but a real tool for communication and sharing of narratives. The experts explored the idea of working with this tool correctly, and introducing into the games meanings that are important for society.
Andrey Voronkov, Deputy Director General of non-profit organisation Institute for Internet Development (IID), in his speech focused on a wide potential of the video games, which can be used for: education, enlightenment, popularization of a national culture, preservation of historical memory. Moreover, according to VTsIOM, 80% of the Russians share the passion for video games in this or that way.
"Since 2022, IID on a competitive basis has supported 48 game projects, for a total amount of more than 5 billion rubles. Our priority is to support such games that will become not only interactive entertainment, but also will help to solve a particular social task. Practice shows that games that spread positive meanings can be an effective tool for communication with people. But, of course, it is the case only if they are very well made, and values and meanings are carefully introduced in the narrative.
A successful example is a game called "Smuta" (the Time of Troubles in Russian). It is about the most important period in the Russian history, when our country actually defended its statehood. The game was supplemented by a series of educational quests that allow you to visit Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow, to get familiar with the architecture, customs and life of that epoch. These materials, by the way, are used in school lessons called "Conversations about important things".
The total number of downloads of the "Smuta" project, taking into account the additions, exceeded 1 million. That is, the game was apprecuated not only the gamers, but also by a much wider audience.
We can also remember our game "the Immortal Symphony", which introduces gamers to the hardships of life in the Leningrad under siege, or the science fiction RPG "Saturn", which popularizes science," Andrei Voronkov said.
Polina Kazantseva, Deputy Director of the EISI Internet Research Department, focused on the interaction between the video games industry and the state.
"The state can stimulate an integration of certain meanings and values into a game content, but at the same time, the important meanings can be integrated into game scenarios in a natural way, such as the Victory Parade in Minecraft. Today, the state support in the form of grants and subsidies is available to game developers in Russia. And finally, the state sees the potential of the video games for developing important skills and abilities in young people: strategic thinking, speed of reaction, speed of decision-making. Therefore, one of the main directions of support is phygital sports at the intersection of digital technologies and conventional sports," Polina Kazantseva said.
The topic of esport was presented by Oksana Gural, Vice President of Computer Sports Federation of Russia.
"In e-sport, video games are a tool that allows the sportsmen to show the maximum level of skills and abilities. There are seven disciplines in e-sports: "battle arena", "fighting", "technical simulator", "real-time strategy", "competitive puzzles", "sports simulator", and "tactical three-dimensional combat". We want our e-sportsmen to take a leading position at the world level. And for this, it is necessary for the Russian developers to create world-class products," Oksana Gural emphasized.
The panelists talked a lot about the reflection of real historical events in video games, and the complicatedness of working at the intersection of history and fiction. Nikolai Orlov, a participant of Presidential program "Time of Heroes" and a researcher at the Executive Directorate of the Russian Military Historical Society, noted that the Western films and video games deliberately distort the truth about our country, and this must be fought with help of high-quality domestic content.
"We must understand that a video game is the art of preserving historical memory, and art requires a lot of work. Games about the Second World War are still being released. Of course, we will definitely have good game products about the Special Military Operation, but before that it, time should pass so that the developers could comprehend the material. It seems to me that with regard to video games, Lomonosov's words that people who do not remember their past have no future are more relevant than ever ," said Nikolai Orlov.
Nikita Kiosev, Deputy Head of the People's Front Youth Group, and Head of the People's Front Youth Projects Department, suggested to consider the video games as a tool for influencing the society.
"A good game doesn't teach — it leads to awareness. Our task is to find effective ways to convey the meanings to the gamers, and to embed them in the plot so that the gamer himself comes to important conclusions," said Nikita Kiosev.
Vitaly Shutov, Creative Director of "Playing Cats" company, joined the discussion. He emphasized that the primary task of the developers is to make a high-quality product, and only then to embed meanings in it. So, in order for the user to understand the philosophy, he must first immerse into the content. Vitaly Shutov was supported by Alexander Tolkach, producer and one of the creators of the game "Squad 22: ZOV". He told the experts about development of the first game based on the story of the Special Military Operation. According to the speaker, when working with such topics, it is very important to use images of real military men, and rely on real facts.
Anna Kozlova, Executive Director of "IGROPROM" Video Game Exposition and Festival, provided interesting data: 27% of video game developers use elements of the Russian cultural code in their projects, and thus the games become a means of exploring and preserving the cultural identity. Yaroslav Meshalkin, Managing Partner of "Heads'made", shared his opinion on promotion of the video games. The expert noted that in this aspect, the games have a lot in common with movies: from teasers and trailers to outdoor advertising and press screenings; from creating expectations and working off negativity in social networks, to promotion with help of celebrities and festivals. All this requires matchable budgets, and professionalism.
Following the discussion, the experts concluded that military simulators, historical quests, strategic and educational games, with due attention from the developers, and with due government support, can become an effective channel for transmitting traditional values and an effective tool for patriotic education. The main thing is to find a balance between the meaning and quality of the game scenario.
Event photobank
The participants got the idea that ordinary household waste can become an unusual material for creativity.
On June 26, the annual final meeting of the Board of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh) was held at the National Centre RUSSIA.
