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Through the Invisible Wall: Video Games in China
From a banished pastime to a cultural behemoth, this is how interactive media have shaped — and been shaped by— the PRC
Ihave spent the last few years working in universities in central China. As I was wrapping up an exam one afternoon, a student approached me. “Someone told me you play Overwatch,” he said.
I do play Overwatch, in fact, and there are some very angry people who will not only confirm this but also attest to my skill. “He never heals me,” they’ll say. “Only because he feeds and dies so fast that I never have a chance to get to him,” I’ll reply, and thus begins a typically fruitful conversation between peers.
This student proceeds to show me some screenshots on his phone. As it happens, I was speaking to a very highly ranked player — Grandmaster tier, topping out at close to 4600 SR in his best role. This makes him one of the top players in the China-specific region, and far and away the highest skill player of the game I’ve ever met.
This was only the most memorable in a series of conversations with people about video games in…
