2026/06/14 by Antonia Wurm · 1 voice
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Digital Games and Media #Educational Games and Gamification #Media Studies and Communication
paper · doi:10.1016/j.entcom.2026.101168
openalex publication_date 2026/06/14 · openalex created_date 2026/06/15 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Who gets to define the cultural meaning of digital games? As public intermediaries between industry and audiences, game journalists shape how games are interpreted and debated. Yet access to this cultural authority is not gender-neutral. Drawing on 20 semi-structured interviews with freelance and permanently employed female game journalists in Germany, this study examines how misogyny and gendered hostility constrain women's ability to claim epistemic authority in platformized game cultures. The findings show that visibility functions as a double-edged condition of contemporary digital media work. While public presence is necessary to build credibility and influence, it simultaneously increases exposure to misogynistic attacks and credibility challenges. Experiences of hostility vary depending on platform visibility and institutional protection, revealing how gendered power relations shape whose interpretations of games gain legitimacy in public discourse. Through a content-structuring qualitative analysis, the study identifies four positioning strategies – the careful navigator, outspoken mediator, internal supporter, and defiant advocate – that represent distinct ways of negotiating visibility, hostility, and professional recognition. By framing games journalism as a site where gendered exclusion affects the public mediation of digital games, the article highlights the societal consequences of epistemic inequality in digital game cultures.