QAnon as a Virtual Quest?

Hi guys! This episode of the podcast “Deep Background,” hosted by Noah Feldman – a leading Harvard Law prof – concerns the rise of QAnon, a pervasive conspiracy theory/community online that is defined by its support for Donald Trump as an ‘undercover’ agent fighting against the ‘deep state.’ In the episode, the podcast hosts the CEO of a gaming company (‘Six to Start’), whose most successful titles belong to a genre of games called ‘virtual quests,’ where the player is dropped in a simulated version of the internet and is encouraged to ‘research’ and search for clues in order to progress the plot and uncover the game’s mysteries. See for example the company’s game “Smokescreen:” https://www.sixtostart.com/smokescreen/.

I found the CEO’s take on QAnon fascinating, because it raises issues about the ‘gamification’ of politics, particularly in a ‘post-truth’ era where online ‘research’ can just about confirm any worldview. I think that ultimately movements like QAnon may only be the start of substantial shifts in our politics brought about by the move towards virtual spaces for both gaming and non-gaming purposes, or perhaps even the ‘hybridization’ of gaming and non-gaming activities.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-allure-of-qanon/id1460055316?i=1000490559448