Brierley-Beare, Amy ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0675-3268 (2025) The Language of Digital Love: Introducing a Taxonomy of Romance for the AAA Game. Game Studies, 25 (2). pp. 1-15.

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Abstract

Interactive romance has been a mainstay in AAA games for many years. Romance is an expected feature of many major releases and something that is intrinsic to in-game social systems. Yet, what constitutes a representation of romance can vary significantly depending on the game you are playing. It could be an all-encompassing epic love story or simply another element of gameplay -- a skill-based challenge for the player to complete. Despite this, representations of romance have remained under-examined and vaguely defined by scholars. The word “romance” is so often used as a catch-all for what is a broad spectrum of representation. As such, this article introduces a taxonomy of romance in the AAA game. There exist distinct vernaculars of “digital love” in the AAA space that I define as “limerent, domestic, ludic and physical.” I define the structures, tropes and conventions of these vernaculars and argue that they are a crucial -- yet understudied -- element of digital gaming. They are intertwined with broader social systems, moral messaging and pleasures offered to players. Ultimately, they have a capacity to frame textual engagements with gender, sexuality and sexualisation. This article provides a taxonomy to help scholars and developers better understand how it might mediate player experience and textual meaning for future studies.

Keywords: romance, digital love, AAA, sexuality, intimacy, gender

Item Type:	Article
Status:	Published
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PQ Romance literatures
School/Department:	School of Humanities
URI:	https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/14353

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