[New Wave] Post-Corona Era, Games as Social Infrastructure

William James, in the classic psychology book "The Principles of Psychology," states that for social beings, being socially isolated is the most cruel form of torture. Situations that amplify social isolation vary widely, including moving, advancing in education, unemployment, living alone, or even mistakenly boarding the wrong vehicle. In such moments, people tend to engage in irrational behaviors such as despair or impulsive actions, much like those facing imminent death.

Because social isolation is so deadly, the motivation to bond with others intensifies in crisis situations. When the 9/11 attacks occurred, many American students’ first action was to call distant family members and relatives. Although physically apart, the desire to confirm social bonds through phone connections was triggered.

This tendency has also been demonstrated through psychological experiments. In 2003, Arnaud Weizmann and others conducted a study where participants were asked questions like "What do you think will happen when you die?" to induce unpleasant thoughts. Afterwards, they were asked to enter a room and choose a seat for discussion.

The students participating in the experiment could choose to sit alone on a single chair on one side or on chairs that could accommodate several people on the other side. At this time, 80% of the students who thought about death chose the chairs where multiple people could sit. Compared to the control group, who mostly chose the single chairs after thinking about everyday TV programs, this proved that threatening situations strongly increase the desire to be with others.

There is even the phenomenon of "Stockholm Syndrome," where victims develop attachment and intimacy toward their captors who caused their misfortune. In 1973, bank robbers held hostages for over six days while confronting the police. The rescued hostages, in a life-or-death situation, felt friendly emotions toward the captors. Moreover, they showed hostile feelings toward the police who risked their lives to rescue them?an incomprehensible phenomenon. In anxious situations, the desire to bond with others took precedence over rational thinking.

Although social distancing is emphasized as COVID-19 resurges, it is not easy to suppress the instinct to gather. Examples include various COVID parties in the United States that led to infections and the large-scale August 15 Gwanghwamun rally in South Korea.

Despite these exceptional cases, one reason irrational and impulsive behaviors have not been widespread during the prolonged COVID-19 crisis is that games used by 70% of the population have played a role in preventing this to some extent. Especially network games enjoyed with headsets are arguably the primary contributors to preventing social isolation and maintaining strong social connections, keeping people from feeling lonely. The microphone attached to the headset enables close conversation and cooperation with others during intense immersion in the game. The sense of solidarity and accomplishment from cooperating and interacting with others provides a dynamic sense of existence rather than lonely isolation.

Few experts deny the fact that returning to pre-COVID-19 times is difficult. In a situation where it is impossible for social beings to gather in large numbers in reality, games that help easily resolve feelings of isolation are thus more than mere entertainment?they are essential basic social infrastructure. In the absence of alternative systems or services to replace games, regulating games is, in my belief, as irrational as regulating basic infrastructure like electricity or water.

Lee Jang-ju, Director of Irak Digital Culture Research Institute

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.