Play, watch, share: the dissemination of the cultural presence of games on video-based social media – Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

In China, the public has long held negative attitudes toward digital games, which have exacerbated by media coverage that equates game addiction with societal harm (Golub and Lingley, 2008). Digital games have been referred to as “electronic heroin,” which is a term that is synonymous with “dangerous social goods” (Lu, 2016). Public perceptions of gaming have traditionally been divided into two categories: “e-sports players” and “internet addicts” (Szablewicz, 2011). However, the negative media publicity surrounding digital games began to decline in 2013, marking a shift in public perception (Cao and He, 2021). As society has evolved, digital games have gradually gained acceptance as a legitimate form of “culture” and have become an integral “subculture” (Pitroso, 2024). The release of Black Myth: Wukong, China’s first true triple-A-quality digital game, initially attracted attention primarily from gamers. Drawing its theme from traditional Chinese mythology and featuring meticulously restored Chinese landscapes, this game gradually garnered broader public interest, evolving from a mere digital game into a cultural phenomenon. This development represents a significant milestone in the popularization of digital games and offers a new direction through which the Chinese government can promote traditional culture to younger generations.

The cultural presence of digital games

While digital game culture continues to evolve, research on this topic has focused primarily on new technologies and equipment that drive the development of the game industry (Cassell and Jenkins, 1998) facilitating the transition of digital games from the virtual world to the real world (Markey, 2016; Shin and Shin, 2011). Additionally, the emergence of game-related industries, such as live streaming and e-sports, has introduced a “new game labor force” (Guarriello, 2019; Woodcock and Johnson, 2019). This body of research highlights the notion that digital games, as cultural phenomena, intersect with multiple disciplines. Studies have expanded from analyzing player behaviors in digital games to exploring game narratology (Cassidy, 2011), particularly focusing on game narratives within a broader cultural context (Belyaev and Belyaeva, 2022; Jun-xin and Zi-han, 2024). As a result, sociologists are increasingly viewing digital games as “social institutions” (Obreja, 2024), recognizing that all games can be analyzed as sociocultural phenomena (Corliss, 2011).

“Cultural presence” is a concept that pertains to the experience of cultural feelings within networked virtual communities (Champion, 2006). With the mobile internet becoming the dominant platform today, how to leverage it for cultural dissemination is an emerging topic that countries are actively exploring. The theory of cultural presence requires three key elements: culturally significant artifacts or practices; a framework with a clearly identifiable cultural perspective, encompassing participants’ perceptions and perspectives on culture; and an overall structure (the cultural significance and relational value of artifacts and practices) (Champion, 2020). In addition, digital games are an important form of expression. Notably, game creators incorporate cultural presences from the outset of the design process, such as in titles including “Assassin’s Creed” and “Red Dead Redemption”. In addition to their entertainment value, these digital games simulate traditional historical settings, convey specific historical frameworks, and explore history and past culture through gameplay. When digital games are used to communicate cultural values and meanings, they can effectively convey both the material and intangible aspects of cultural heritage (Addison, 2001). By integrating virtual cultural heritage into digital games in an entertaining manner, traditional local cultures can be more widely disseminated.

Cultural dissemination of digital games in social media videos

The emergence of games as a cultural phenomenon primarily stems from the transformation of mass communication channels. Game dissemination has evolved from players engaging in gameplay to spectators watching streamers play, with video platforms facilitating the sharing of game-related content, thereby transforming it into more social communication behavior. Today, game video platforms serve as the primary arena for game dissemination. For gamers, capturing and disseminating game information has become an integral part of their daily lives (Jia et al. 2016). Game videos are spread through online behaviors such as liking, collecting, and sharing. Analyzing game video content is crucial for understanding the game dissemination process, and the primary analysis method involves conducting qualitative research through video content coding (Harriger et al. 2023). Previous studies have focused mainly on video communication metrics (Wang et al. 2024), such as the numbers of likes, views, and comments (Cao et al. 2024). Current studies have begun to focus on analyzing the image narrative content contained in videos (Harriger et al. 2023; Basch et al. 2022) Owing to research design constraints, earlier studies concentrated primarily on extracting video elements, offering limited insights into specific video imagery. The case study of Black Myth: Wukong performed herein requires a detailed analysis of the specific content contained within the acquired videos. Therefore, multimodal video content analysis methods are particularly important at present (Serafini and Reid, 2023). We manually coded all the videos and summarized their content to focus more on the analysis of video content and understand the nuances of game video dissemination. Additionally, we collected Danmaku (real-time comment) data from users to gain insights into audience feedback while watching game videos. This study integrates both visual and textual content, using game videos as the medium. By focusing on analyzing the internal narratives of games and examining users’ discussions and sharing practices, we can comprehensively analyze the transition from game communication to cultural phenomena.

Interaction ritual (IR) theory

IR chain theory, as a microsociological analytical framework, synthesizes theoretical perspectives from Durkheimian sociology, symbolic interactionism, dramaturgical theory, the sociology of emotions, and social exchange theory. This integrative approach bridges microlevel behaviors with macrolevel social phenomena, establishing a comprehensive understanding of how individual interactions contribute to broader societal structures (Gordon, 2013). Collins’ ritual chain framework, which was formulated prior to the digital era, inherently excluded considerations of virtual engagements in terms of sustaining IRs. Contemporary collective activity experiences now demonstrate profound entanglements with digital-virtual environments (Sintas et al. 2015), engendering culturally significant impacts (Simons, 2019). These interactive rituals increasingly manifest within digital networks, evolving into networked digital ceremonial practices (DiMaggio et al. 2018). Scholars are progressively applying IR theory to decode subcultural phenomena in digital gaming contexts (Mizrahi-Werner et al. 2024), with particular attention given to live game streams as interactive rituals that crystallize shared cultural representations among digital nomads (Jodén and Strandell, 2022). Compared with previous work, the current application of IR theory to social media represents an emerging research topic. Scholars have emphasized that the ritual frameworks of online social platforms hold significance for cultural expression while also reflecting the developmental direction of digital culture (Trillò et al. 2022). The cultural phenomenon surrounding Black Myth: Wukong provides an opportunity to integrated IR-related research into the field of digital gaming subcultures by applying it to analyze the transmission of cultural forms through video games.

Digital emotional contagion (DEC)

The concept of emotional contagion has received scholarly attention within the framework of IR theory. Owing to the highly structured and emotionally charged nature of ritual activities, as well as their emphasis on shared meanings and cultural sensibilities, emotional contagion has become a key feature of rituals, and it plays a critical role in the transmission of meanings within strongly ritualized collective activities, such as religious practices (Gelfand et al. 2011). According to IR theory, macrolevel phenomena in society arise from microlevel interactive behaviors driven by emotional factors (Gordon, 2013). Moreover, emotional contagion has become a critical foundation for cultural studies (Hatfield et al. 2018). In the context of digital perspectives such as virtual characters (Tsai et al. 2012) and virtual interactions (Isabella and Carvalho, 2016) in networked environments, emotional contagion provides new research horizons. When users engage with digital games, their experiences are multifaceted. The visual style and cinematic plot of a game are presented as virtual cultural heritage, enhancing the interactivity of the game and evoking spiritual or emotional responses from players (Poster, 2007) These emotional responses directly translate into interactive behaviors between game users and game content, such as “likes,” “shares,” and “Danmaku,” thereby facilitating game transmission. An emotion serves as a narrative condition for player interaction in game research (Juel Larsen and Kampmann Walther, 2024). On video-based social platforms, when viewers watch videos of players engaging in games, emotions indirectly influence their viewing behaviors (Lim et al. 2020). The content provided by game streamers and the live gaming experience are significant sources of emotional responses for the audience (Scully-Blaker et al. 2017). Unlike previous studies, we consider the DEC process in game videos as a key factor for assessing players’ interactive behaviors and further explore the cultural information embedded in digital game dissemination.

The innovation of our research primarily encompasses the following three aspects. First, our research objectives are innovative. By integrating IR theory and DEC, we explore the dissemination process of cultural presence in games. The case of Black Myth: Wukong exemplifies how a digital game can evolve into a significant cultural phenomenon in China. This game received unprecedented positive reviews, even prompting the government to produce a special report. In terms of cultural dissemination, its emergence marks the transformation from a digital game to a cultural phenomenon. Second, we employ innovative research methods. We extend the depth of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) on social media platforms. To study game communication on video platforms, we selected game video content and Danmaku as the primary materials because of their consistent characteristics within video time series. We developed software for acquiring Danmaku and dynamic emotion-capturing tools for accurately measuring the regularity of video and Danmaku information in simultaneous sequences. Third, we implement an innovative research focus. Previous studies on games have focused predominantly on the games themselves, exploring their inherent laws. This study shifts the focus to the distribution of games, examining the postrelease patterns of game dissemination. This shift is driven by the growing influence of video network media. Consequently, this research aims to explore how digital games, as carriers of cultural existence, become cultural phenomena on Bilibili, which is a multimedia social network platform characterized by video content sharing and interactions.

The purpose of this study is to explore how digital games have become cultural phenomena through the development of online video platforms as a new form of social media. What is the dissemination mode of video platforms? To address this question, this study focuses on game video communication from the perspectives of players, games, and videos. By integrating the sense of cultural presence with IR theory and DEC, this research primarily investigates the following two questions. 1. How do users communicate their perceptions of cultural presence from digital games to cultural phenomena? 2. What are the components that facilitate this transmission procedure?

Therefore, the research design of this paper is as follows (Fig. 1).

Research design framework.

Full size image

This study employs a mixed-methods approach that combines quantitative and qualitative methodologies. The qualitative methodology primarily adopts interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) as its guiding framework. IPA is well suited for investigating process-oriented issues (Milne and Neely, 2022). It focuses on concrete analyses of collective meaning-making patterns rather than modeling or theorizing latent processes. When analyzing the complex emotional fluctuations and affective behaviors observed during the dissemination of gaming videos, particularly in cases where multiple samples are examined collectively, IPA is deemed the most appropriate method. In summary, multimodal conversion analysis (MCA) is applied to analyze interactional data derived from gaming videos, whereas IPA is used to interpret textual coding information such as video themes and danmu (user comments). The use of mixed quantitative and qualitative research methods is helpful for supporting the results of this study.

Screening of materials

To focus on the core aims of the study, we collected video likes for the game “Black Myth: Wukong” from August 1, 2024, to October 30, 2024 (the game officially launched on August 20). Based on the attention (likes) received on the video platform, we selected the time series from August 16, 2024, to September 30, 2024, totaling 46 days. We searched for videos via the keywords “Black Myth: Wukong” on the Bilibili platform. For this time series, the number of Danmaku was used as the reference criterion. The top 10 videos with the highest daily Danmaku counts were selected as research materials. Additionally, we collected detailed information about each video, including their user IDs, their title lengths, and other relevant data, for further analyses. Two researchers independently reviewed the selected videos; if the content of a video was irrelevant to the topic or if it was a duplicate, it was excluded, and the next-ranked video (e.g., the 11th-ranked video) was considered to ensure consistency in the material evaluation. Consequently, a total of 462 videos and 77,781 Danmaku comments were selected as the primary materials for this study, with 2 videos used as supplementary materials.

Video content information

Previous studies have focused primarily on analyzing basic video information, including their titles; upload times; video sources; durations; numbers of views, likes, and comments; and content type. Such analyses of video information fail to capture the specific content of the examined videos. In this study, we first watched 462 related videos and manually summarized the content of each video, which included two components: the focus of the video content and the description of the video. This focus on the video content provided a final summary of the key points of each video, while the corresponding video description listed the content according to time nodes. Each video was then classified on the basis of these summaries.

Emotion measurement

In the past, emotions were captured in a static way, mainly by extracting video comment text and using dictionaries and machine learning methods to predict emotions (Anastasiou et al. 2023). However, the emotion of the anchor in a video is a dynamic picture expression, so NLP techniques cannot be used. Therefore, to capture the emotions of anchors in game videos, we developed software (based on YOLOv8) for capturing the dynamic emotions of images in time series. YOLOv8 supports a wide range of visual AI characteristic-related processes, including detection, tracking, and classification. This technology is already widely used in other fields (Hosney et al. 2024). The dynamic emotion capture system we developed for this study can assist in recognizing the facial expressions of game anchors when they play games for determining their emotions. This facial emotion recognition system can supplement the emotion recognition schemes employed in the existing work and more accurately restore the emotional fluctuations of game anchors during games.

Text analysis

We use Python to obtain Danmaku information for each video, including the corresponding time node for each Danmaku. This is conducive to the simultaneous analysis of video content and Danmaku from the time node perspective. A term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) calculation is used to extract and analyze the keyword frequencies of Danmaku text. Utilizing the Jieba tool for Chinese text, we also add a word segmentation dictionary in line with Black Myth: Wukong to improve the accuracy of the keywords. The dictionary is subsequently constructed, the associated TF-IDF value is calculated, and the keyword text of the Danmaku is formed. According to the process of theme modeling, iterative arrangement and classification are performed again on the observed artificial themes. Because this kind of game has its own network language, it uses a mixed judgment method consisting of computational quantification and manual combination. During the data preprocessing and result judgment steps, researchers should form final summaries and inductions for the data.

The framework diagram of the research method employed in this study is shown in Fig. 2.

Framework diagram of the research methodology.

Full size image

This study employs a progressive approach from micro- to macrolevel research logic to examine how players’ cognition evolves from games to cultural presence. First, from the player’s perspective—the human‒computer interaction mechanism (micro level)—we investigate which game elements cause emotional fluctuations and generate Danmaku interactions during gameplay by streamers. By extracting game signals and matching them with Danmaku content, we conduct an iterative analysis to identify the specific elements that trigger interactions between players and games. Second, from the game perspective—the game information interaction mechanism (meso level)—we analyze videos of streamers playing the game and evaluation videos, focusing on the combination of video content and Danmaku information to identify the specific elements that lead to game information evaluations. Finally, from the game video perspective—the multisource interaction mechanism (macro level)—we perform a classification analysis on different categories of game videos to uncover the mechanisms that drive the transmission of video content.

Playing games: human–computer interactions in games from a player’s perspective (microscopic perspective)

We choose the prologue of the game as the focus of this research because the prologue of the game contains both the introduction of the game and a demonstration of how to play the game. At the same time, the prologue is often the key game chapter that engages the player. Through emotion capture, we find that the emotions of game players (game anchors) have a “cluster” rule (Fig. 3). During the process of playing the game, with the gradual development of the game narrative, the player’s game emotions and the game itself exhibit regular fluctuations. The figure below shows that the emotional contagion of game players mainly includes the following four themes: game animations, game characters, the story of the game, and gameplay. The game animation theme is mainly related to the player of the game, as the grand scenes of the game are shocking. The game characters are the protagonist and the “boss” of the game, and the Chinese 1986 version of the “Journey to the West” TV series provides recall association and game character design evaluation. The story of the game is based on the Chinese fantasy novel “Journey to the West”, and players discuss how the story of the game relates to the original novel. Gameplay is an important indicator by which players evaluate games through action designs, visual effects, combat systems and other game operation elements.

1. Purple: Game animations, including an animation of the boss appearing in the game and an animation of a weapon slashing at Wukong in the game. 2. Blue: Game character, i.e., the character design of scene. 3. Green: Game story, i.e., dialog content of the “Destined One” game story. 4. Yellow: Gameplay, i.e., game combat operation content. 5. The bottom half is “Combined analysis of videos + Danmaku”).

Full size image

In addition, we find that players’ emotions primarily stem from four key themes within the game and extract Danmaku content corresponding to these time series. This type of analysis allows us to focus on the feelings of numerous game enthusiasts when they experience the game and obtain detailed human‒computer interaction parameters through a Danmaku text analysis. By matching Danmaku content to the four emotional themes of the game, we conduct thematic extraction and iterative analysis processes on the Danmaku content, identifying 24 thematic elements that game players pay attention to. We divide these 24 game themes into the following types of sensory identities for integration: the visual perspective, the auditory perspective, and haptic feedback; group identification projections: game rules, role characteristics, and cognitive understanding; and emotional identification diffusion: story background, identity projections, and emotional resonance. The integration level of sensory identification is at the operation stage of the game, where the players evaluate their feelings and intuitions regarding the game and discuss the “game” (Table 1). The group identification projection level belongs to the game experience stage. In addition to basic gameplay, players pay attention to narrative information, such as the decisions made and the plot of the game, shifting the thought process from games to culture. The emotional identification and diffusion level, which belongs to the game culture stage, involves players discussing the story background behind the game and then discussing real-world phenomena from the perspective of the character to reach emotional resonance at the cultural level.

DEC as a catalyst for IR

In this study, IR generate group identities through shared attention (game animations, game characters, game stories, and game operations), emotional synchronization (player mood clusters) and symbol sharing (game characters and game stories) and further form cultural significance. In the game, the player’s emotional fluctuations and their real-time interactions through Danmaku form a resonance chain of emotions. For example, when a game animation presents a large scene, an emotional expression theme frequently appears in the corresponding Danmaku (“I think the video quality is high according to both visual senses”); through the rapid dissemination of text symbols (such as “There is an interaction, mutual agreement or a response”), the emotional contagion process is accelerated among the audience. In addition to enhancing the degree of emotional synchronization between players, emotional contagion themes (e.g., game animations, game characters, game stories, and game actions), group symbols (e.g., “Discuss Wukong’s identity and background”), and the elimination of individual emotions into collective emotional energy become the “catalysts” of cultural existence.

The ritualized process of cultural presence

Sensory Identification Integration: The “physical copresence” in IR, the tactile feedback in video game operations (smooth gameplay), and the audiovisual impact of games (classic and touching Background Musics that perfectly match the visuals) trigger sensory resonance for players through multimodal interaction, forming the “physical basis” for ritual participation. The expressions of DEC, such as “good integration of game characters and operations” and “high game production level, comparable to movies”, as sensory evaluations, are transformed into group-recognized sensory ritual symbols through the dense dissemination of language symbols, converting individual experiences into shared experiences.

Group identification projection: In essence, “Role immersion”, which is the discussion of the game by the players (e.g., teasing the relationships between the characters), is the projection of identity through the appropriation of cultural symbols (e.g., thinking that the Destined One is the key character and is closely linked with Wukong’s destiny), forming a cognitive bridge between the “game and culture”. Through group identification discussions, the group identity formed with common cultural symbols is strengthened (e.g., teasing the relationships between the characters), promoting the transformation from the “player” identity to the “cultural participant” identity.

Emotional identification diffusion: Essentially, “Emotional significance sublimation”, which involves players’ discussions on the adaptation of game plots (e.g., discussing the influence of “Journey to the West”, expressing feelings about its connection with the game), is a negotiation of the cultural prototype of “Journey to the West”, ultimately forming a collective judgment on whether the adaptation is loyal to the cultural spirit. DEC solidification is connected to emotional resonance (expecting video content or having deep feelings for “Journey to the West”). Through discussions on the background of the story and the superimposition of game content, the game experience is anchored at the cultural value level, elevating the “cultural presence” from the momentary game experience to a lasting cultural consensus.

Watching games: how game information spreads from a game perspective (mesoscopic perspective)

The interaction of game information refers to the player’s evaluation of the overall game elements in terms of the composition of the game. In this study, we select feature videos that review the game. The contents of all feature videos are manually summarized to obtain specific details for each video. We then conduct a text analysis on the video content to extract the high-frequency words. The research reveals that game evaluations primarily encompass 10 themes: screen performance, game content, combat systems, cultural connotations, plot adaptations, player feedback, cultural influences, rating controversies, character designs, and technical optimization. A further text analysis of each theme reveals the high-frequency keywords. Finally, we classify and summarize these high-frequency keywords. Among the 10 themes, players’ discussions on the game are focused on five main aspects: “game-related”, “culture-related”, “business-related”, “social communication”, and “technology and development” topics (Table 2). Thus, we find that the focus of game dissemination has gradually shifted from “game ontology” to broader discussion topics involving “culture, business, communication, and technology”.

From the perspective of discussion topics, the initial discussions among the game players and enthusiasts were primarily game-related discussions, focusing on aspects such as “screen performance,” “game elements,” and the “combat system.” As gameplay progressed, players began to pay more attention to the “game content” and “character designs,” reflecting deeper engagement with the game experience. Upon completing the game, the players shifted their discussions toward the cultural background triggered by the story of the game, including “plot adaptations” and “cultural connotations.” This then extended to more diversified topics such as “game ratings,” “technical optimization,” and “market feedback.” The evolution of these discussion topics followed a trajectory from specific in-game elements to broader, more complex dissemination themes. Initially, the “game-related discussions” centered on the game action phase, encompassing gameplay mechanics and visual elements. The “game experience” and “story adaptation” stages reflect deeper narrative engagement. The emergence of diverse issues accelerated the cultural diffusion process and moved the discussion toward broader social communication, marking the transition to the game culture stage. Therefore, from the perspective of games, game information spreads in the following stages: the game operation stage (image quality, visual effects, game elements, game experience, game characters, game mechanics, game props, and game skills), the game narrative stage (game content, plot adaptations, and narrative context), and the game culture stage (culture, business, communication, technology, and evaluation topics).

The ritualized accumulation of cultural presence

Game operation stage: The “ritual initiation” of sensory stimulation and emotional resonance. Through Danmaku, players form a “common focus” on the audiovisual and operational experience of the game (e.g., likes and interactions) in real time, forming a ritualized common focus object for the game. In “emotional synchronization”, sensory stimulation (e.g., picture quality, and light and shadow effects) starts from real-time emotional responses, and through Danmaku, dense interactions are carried out, thereby achieving emotional resonance within the group. This emotional contagion scheme provides a sensory basis for cultural presence, such as the shock of the “scene model” brought by the visual ritual of Danmaku coverage (such as a full screen showing “666”), strengthening the collective recognition of “Chinese aesthetics” among players. The discussion focus is centered on sensory experiences such as “picture quality”, “visual effects”, and “game mechanics”.

Game narrative stage: “Ritual deepening” of symbol sharing and cultural negotiation. During “symbolic sharing and conflict”, players debate “game character image designs” (Table 2) (subverting the original work and innovative expressions), the essence of which is to establish a barrier against outsiders (such as “literary work fans” and “game work players”) through the negotiation of cultural symbols. Through emotional polarization, controversial discussions (such as score differences and cultural barriers) transform conflicts into catalysts for forming a cultural identity. The discussion focus shifts from the “game narrative” to “cultural symbolic meaning”.

Game culture stage: “Ritual elevation” of emotional energy overflow and social diffusion. When the discussion topic extends to “cultural influence” and “technical optimization” (Table 2), “emotional contagion overflow” indicates that the ritual energy has permeated from the game to the social domain. For example, the “IGN score controversy” has sparked public discussions about “Western media bias”, and the game has become a symbol of cultural discourse. Through the repeated emphasis on high-frequency terms such as “cultural output” and “inheritance”, the “solidification of cultural existence” elevates the game from an entertainment product to a symbolic carrier of national cultural rejuvenation. The discussion points break through the scope of the game and involve “cultural export”, “technical disputes”, and “social issues”.

Sharing games: multisource distribution of games from the video perspective (macroscopic perspective)

This study utilizes video-based social media as the research vehicle. Analyzing the ontology of game videos provides a macro perspective regarding the widespread dissemination of games. First, we categorize the 462 acquired videos into 67 content categories and then consolidate these categories to identify nine widely spread video types: knowledge and skills, cultural dissemination, music performance, game information, daily life, talent shows, emotional life, creative fun, and game features (Fig. 4). Among the game videos, knowledge and skills, game features, and creativity are the primary content types. Among the knowledge and skill content of the game video, the main content includes anchor videos; game feature videos, which mainly include game preview analyses and all-around evaluations; and creative and funny game videos, which include mainly comedy videos and game story creation videos.

Combined video + Danmaku analysis.

Full size image

As shown in Fig. 5, game videos featuring game features (76%), knowledge skills (91%), and creativity and fun (70%) appear more frequently in the 46-day time series and are strongly related to game presentation. With respect to cultural communication (54%) and news information (42%), the frequency of occurrence is moderate, and the presentation information is related. Musical performance (32%), daily life (23%), talent show (11%), and emotional life (7%) videos exhibit low frequencies and are weakly correlated. However, the strongly related video content is used to introduce the game content, and the game is strong. The weakly related video content mainly includes the creation of other themes around games, which are more welcomed by “nongame players” and have strong dissemination power, which makes it easier to disseminate cultural phenomena. Therefore, on the game video platform, from the game perspective to the spread of culture, the correlation with the video game content demonstrates an inverse relationship.

Frequency chart concerning the dissemination of the sense of presence in game culture.

Full size image

Moreover, in Table 3, we examine different types of video platforms, including player communities (e.g., Bilibili), cross-platform channels (e.g., Douyin), and cross-domain social platforms (e.g., YouTube). We find that five types of game videos—knowledge and skills, music performance, talent displays, creativity, and game features—are strongly associated with multisource communication. This facilitates the cross-player, cross-platform, and cross-regional dissemination of game content and culture. Additionally, we observe that on platforms with large vertical user bases, such as player communities, music performances, talent shows, and game information appear less frequently but perform better in terms of cross-platform and cross-regional sharing.

The ritualized dissemination of cultural presence

Strongly related game videos: The “ritual energy pool” of the game itself. Common field solidification: Through Danmaku interactions (such as “learned!” and “Worship”), knowledge and skill videos (such as “BOSS no damage quick pass tutorial”) form a ritual field with game skill sharing at its core. Emotional contagion accumulation: Game feature videos (such as “Full Weapon Assessment”) elevate individual experiences into group knowledge capital through in-depth discussions of game mechanics (Table 3), strengthening the group identity of “core gamers”.

Weakly related game videos: The “linking bridge” of cultural breaking at the boundaries. Symbol generalization and grafting: Music performance videos (such as “original game adaptations”) graft emotional game energy into traditional culture through cultural symbol appropriation (e.g., folk music + game IP), forming a common cross-group focus. Emotional boundary resolution: Daily life videos (such as “traveling with the game”) use empathic narration to weaken the threshold of the game and attract nonplayers to participate in emotional interactions. Talent show videos (such as “Sun Wukong Cos Martial Arts Performance”) activate the cultural pride of nonplayer groups through visual wonders (“cross-regional advantage sharing”, as shown in Table 3) and promote the game as a carrier of “national pride”. This separates from the game itself and attracts nonplayer groups with pancultural symbols (such as Chinese music and cosplay talents) to achieve cross-field communication.

Video platform differences: “Game-cultural adaptation” in the ceremonial arena. Owing to the ritualistic closure of vertical platforms, users of Bilibili build a high-barrier emotional community through “Argot” and “meme culture”, and strongly related videos can maximize the accumulation of emotional energy in such fields. With cross-platform ritual openness, Tiktok relies on pancultural symbols (such as game music and visual wonders) to lower the threshold of participation and quickly gather a temporary common focus through emotional contagion. At Bilibili, emotional contagion presents deep specialization (such as the “game technology worship” of a walkthrough video). On tiktok, emotional contagion tends to be broadly generalized (such as the “cultural pride” of talent videos). The algorithm of the platform shapes different emotional diffusion paths through recommendation logic (such as “accurate label matching” at Bilibili and “hotspot driving” on Tiktok). The game maintains the core player identity (cultural depth) through core content (strongly relevant game videos) and expands the degree of public influence (cultural breadth) through pancultural content (weakly relevant videos).

This study analyzes game videos of Black Myth: Wukong on video social platforms from three perspectives: players (playing the game), games (watching the game) and videos (sharing the game). On the basis of IR theory and emotional contagion theory, this paper analyzes these three aspects and explores how users transfer game cognition and form cultural discussions. The factors causing transmission include the following.

“The cultural presence of digital games” as an extension of IR theory

Traditional “cultural presence” emphasizes cultural immersion in physical spaces (such as museums and ritual sites), and this study further expands the boundaries of cultural presence (Addison, 2001) and introduces the concept of “digital cultural presence”. Consistent with previous studies, cultural game identity gradually evolves into digital network rituals (DiMaggio et al. 2018), and digital rituals are formed through online video communication (Jodén and Strandell, 2022), highlighting the common cultural significance. Moreover, it is further verified (Trillò et al. 2022) that digital games no longer simply “reproduce” traditional culture but also allow players to reproduce cultural practices through digital rituals (e.g., reexperiencing the story of “Journey to the West” in the game) so that the cultural presence is transferred from the cognitive level to the action level, and the cultural presence is formed on social media. Moreover, this study reveals that the cultural presence of digital games includes IRs (game interactions), emotional contagion (game emotions), and symbol construction (cultural meaning). The associated characteristics are (1) dynamic, with the evolution of game stages (game operation-game narrative-game culture) from sensory immersion to cultural identity; (2) paradoxical, where strong game-related videos maintain their cultural depth, while weak game-related videos expand their cultural breadth and form a communication balance; and (3) diffusion, where the vertical social media community (Bilibili) strengthens the cultural identities of games, and cross-platform social media (Tiktok) promote the dissemination of game culture.

IR theory: generation of the mechanism for propagating the cultural presence of games

1. (1)

   Playing games—the human‒computer interaction mode of games from the perspective of players: The ritualized process of cultural presence and the emotional contagion of games activate cultural perception. The sensory stimulation (such as battle scenes and scene animations) conveyed through multimodal emotional contagion in games (visual/auditory/tactile) encodes traditional cultural symbols (such as the plot of “Journey to the West”) into experiential digital game memories. Through emotional resonance, individual game experiences are elevated to collective cultural memories. From the player’s perspective (the micro perspectives), we determine the time nodes that cause emotional fluctuations by capturing and analyzing these fluctuations and then analyzing the associated video content in conjunction with Danmaku information. We find that the interactions of game players focus on four key aspects: animations, characters, actions, and the story. Through an analysis of the Danmaku at specific time points, we identify 20 main themes of player feedback, all of which revolve around the development narrative of the game. After conducting a further thematic analysis, we summarize the human‒computer interaction paradigm of game dissemination from the player’s perspective, which includes the following. 1. Sensory identification is divided into visual angle, auditory dimension and tactile feedback components. 2. Group identification is divided into game rules, role characteristics, and cognitive understanding. 3. Emotional identification includes the story background, identity projection and emotional resonance. These three levels possess a progressive relationship, and the discussed game content gradually transitions from game themes to cultural themes.

2. (2)

   Watching games—the diffusion of game information from the perspective of games: The ritualized accumulation of cultural presence and discussions of games deepen cultural identities. By establishing a common “game operation” experience focus, the emotional energy of the game is condensed; in the game narrative stage, the discussion of the game experience and plot demarcates the group boundaries (such as “original work fans” and “game players”) in an emotional way, and behind it lies the discussion of cultural identity. Ultimately, in the game culture stage, the emotions spread to public issues (e.g., the IGN game rating controversy), and through cultural themes and social communication, the game forms a collective belief, completing the ritualistic leap from a virtual game to a social cultural phenomenon. This prompts the cultural presence to be spread at the phenomenon level from individual expressions to group consciousness. From the perspective of games (meso-level), the analysis of game feature videos (evaluations) primarily allows players to complete the entire story of the game and form a comprehensive evaluation. By analyzing the content of these videos, we can understand how game information spreads. First, the contents of all such videos are manually extracted, and text analysis is used to identify content themes. We find that the main game information includes screen performance, game content, the battle system, cultural connotations, plot adaptations, player feedback, cultural influences, the rating controversy, character designs, and technical optimization. Further iterating through the high-frequency words associated with these topics reveals that the initial dissemination of game information focuses on in-game elements, including “screen performance,” “visual effects,” and “game elements.” This gradually transitions to game experience, encompassing “character designs,” “the combat system,” and “gameplay,” and further evolves into game narrative discussions, including “plot adaptations” and “narrative context.” Finally, the game evaluations expand into multiple discussion topics, such as “culture,” “business,” “communication,” “evaluation,” and “technology.” On the whole, the game information diffusion process includes three stages, namely, the game operation stage, the game narrative stage and the game culture stage.

3. (3)

   Sharing games—the multisource dissemination mode of games from the perspective of videos: The ritualized dissemination of cultural presence and platform dissemination expand the boundaries of game culture. Weakly related videos (such as game music adaptations) graft game symbols (such as Sun Wukong images) to pancultural fields (such as Otaku culture) through low-context emotional contagion (melody/visual), realizing the cross-circle re-dissemination of cultural significance. For example, a video containing a “folk music version of the game soundtrack” enables nonplayers to perceive traditional Chinese culture through musical resonance.

From the perspective of videos (the macro perspective), we return to the analysis of game video ontologies and explain the multisource dissemination mode of game videos from a macro perspective. The 462 videos are divided into 67 categories according to their contents, and 9 types of multisource video propagation are determined through successive iterations. An analysis of these 9 types of videos reveals the relationships between the videos and the game content. Game features, knowledge and skills, and creativity are strongly related; Cultural communication and news information are moderately related; and music performance, daily life, talent shows and emotional life are weakly correlated. We also observe that the multisource dissemination mode of game videos is inversely related to their relevance to the game. Specifically, the closer the video content is to the game, the lower its dissemination breadth. Consequently, video types such as cultural communications, news information, music performances, daily life videos, talent shows, and emotional life exceed the dissemination breadth of videos that are strongly related to the game. Through an analysis of player communities, cross-platform channels, and cross-domain social platforms, we find that low-frequency videos, music performances, talent shows, and game information perform better in terms of cross-platform dissemination, further confirming this inverse relationship. Therefore, we conclude that the communication of cognition from a game to culture requires more cross-platform channels and cross-domain social communication. Video types with low relevance to the game, which often receive less attention, play an important role and warrant continuous monitoring.

In short, studies on game dissemination have focused mainly on the online game level (Espina and Lapates, 2016) or on the website communication platforms of mobile internet games (Jiang et al. 2020). We find that a single-player digital game also has a strong transmission force. This spread leads to a general discussion of the cultural phenomena surrounding games. This finding has changed the Chinese public’s negative perception of digital games.(Szablewicz, 2011) From the perspective of players playing games, audiences watching games, and videos sharing games, this study analyzes the cultural presence of players and popular games and their online sharing mechanisms, as well as the reasons for the formation of cultural phenomena. Previous studies on cultural presence have focused mainly on game ontologies (Champion, 2020), game narratives (Cassidy, 2011), and game communities (Saldanha et al. 2023), whereas the current studies pay more attention to the history and culture of games (Belyaev and Belyaeva, 2022). The integration of IR theory and emotional contagion, which is focused on the process of players playing, watching and sharing games, further expands the perspective of cultural transmission in the virtual world, and forms a cultural presence transmission framework for digital games (Fig. 6). Utilizing video-based social platforms, the cultural gene attributes carried by digital games are infinitely amplified, forming a wide range of cultural discussion hotspots. Taking games as the carriers and IRs as the intermediaries is an important way to enhance the sense of mass cultural presence.

Dissemination framework of cultural presence in digital games.

Full size image

This study further expands the boundaries of IR theory (Jodén and Strandell, 2022) and proves that digital games drive IRs through emotional contagion and build the “cultural presence” of traditional culture in the digital space. This sense of presence is neither a simple reproduction of tradition nor a disordered digital illusion but rather a continuous digital network connecting games and culture through the collective ritual practices of players, which are widely disseminated on social media. This finding not only opens up a cultural transmission path for game research but also has important implications for the living inheritance of cultural heritage in the digital age: gamification may become the core strategy by which traditional culture transforms.

We believe that a sense of cultural presence can be gained through IRs on video social platforms and mass games: the human‒computer interactions of games from the player’s perspective include sensory identification, group identification, and emotional identification. Players can form a cohesive field around the game that they play, forming “Wukong fans”. From the perspective of the game, game information diffusion involves game operation experience, game narrative experience, and game culture experience. Players review the whole game experience, explore the fun involved in the game, form cognitive evaluations of the game, and form an attractive field around the game experience. From the video perspective, multisource communications related to games, such as player community sharing, cross-platform sharing, and cross-domain sharing, all kinds of videos appear with games as their core, forming a grand game-related video matrix. Additionally, the spontaneous sharing of game videos forms a control field for game dissemination. Finally, the mode of cultural presence dissemination on video social platforms is reconstructed (Fig. 7).

Cultural presence in digital games.

Full size image

This study will help the government promote cultural promotion through the cultural presence of digital games. First, the government can provide special support. A cultural game fund can be set up, with a focus on funding the development of games that integrate intangible cultural heritage and classic IP (such as “Journey to the West”). Second, education linkages promote the gamification of traditional cultural textbooks (such as simulating historical events through interactive games), and schools can cooperate to establish “game + culture” practical courses that enhance the cultural identity of youth. Finally, the recreation of virtual cultural heritage through digital games, entertainment programs, etc., should be encouraged, entertainment means should be used to carry out international cultural dissemination, and traditional cultural heritage should be promoted in the context of global cultural exchanges through digital games.

Social media platforms regulate the dissemination of game-related content from algorithmic, human, and interaction perspectives to enhance the degree of cultural engagement while preventing algorithmic bias (Shin, 2023). First, platforms should add a “cultural presence index” to their recommendation algorithms to quantify the cultural value of content (such as the density of traditional cultural symbols and the in-depth discussion rates of users) and coordinate the promotion of strongly related content and weakly related second-creation content to avoid the communication bias caused by traffic supremacy (Shin, 2024). Second, an incentive program for creators should be established to reward culture-breaking content (such as original folk music adaptations of games). Finally, cross-platform data sharing and unified cultural labels (such as “national-style games”) should be used to accurately identify game video content with high cultural value. In short, digital games, as carriers of cultural presence, are conducive to the spread of culture in digital social media. The government, social media platforms and game developers should increase the dimensionality of games from “game entertainment” to “cultural products” and provide a cultural paradigm for the development of global digital entertainment.