Video games have become an important stage for players to keep in touch, interact, and celebrate creativity. While games have always had a social element, today’s leading AAA titles are emerging as the “third place,” the social environment that people turn to outside of home and work. Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve barely set foot outside my apartment, giving this third place a whole new meaning for me. Meetings in Animal Crossing became an essential element to my suddenly socially-distanced reality. But games crept into “third place” territory even before COVID-19 left people tethered to digital devices for…
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