Persistent Worlds after the MMO Boom

Studying Long-Running Games as Cultural Systems

Abstract

This planning session introduces an international, humanities-led research project examining long-running digital games as persistent cultural systems. Taking Final Fantasy XIV as a shared point of reference, three contributors will outline proposed chapters addressing persistence, redevelopment, localisation, and player–developer relations in contemporary live-service worlds. Rather than presenting finished research, the session invites discussion around conceptual frameworks and methodological approaches for studying games that evolve over extended periods and across regions. The session aims to foster collaboration with Japan-based researchers working on game history, production, localisation, community practices, and platform cultures, and to shape a forthcoming edited volume through dialogue. This document both provides an overview of the edited volume, and briefly discusses one proposed submission.