The game that reveals how hacktivism thrives when government becomes oppressive

Hacking is well-known in gaming, indicative of a predilection for hacker culture but often without the culture itself. By contrast, hacktivism — the intersection of hacking and social activism — has gone relatively unexplored in gaming. 

Hacking as gameplay

The Deus Ex games, most notably Mankind: Divided, focused on technology as a way to subvert power structures and ultimately overthrow the corrupt establishment. Though the gameplay focuses on infiltration, technology is how Jensen pulls apart the Illuminati, byte by byte.

Shadowrun used hacking (or in the Shadowrun vernacular, decking) and technomancy (decking through use of magic) as a tool for stealing from and embarrassing the handful of MegaCorps that run the game’s world. Some deckers, namely the environmental hacktivists from the fictional Salish-Shidhe region (formerly British Columbia), see technomancy as a necessity to ensure the future survival of their land. When a MegaCorp comes sniffing around, eager to exploit the bounties of the Salish-Shidhe, they aren’t afraid to drive them back with everything they have, including technomancy.  Read more…

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