This book demonstrates how embracing and engaging with personal identity—both positively and negatively—has led gaming culture to evolve and fracture past the monolith of the stereotypical “gamer” image that exists within the popular imaginary. Video game culture tends to be cloistered and closed off to those who don’t appear to align with the assumed demographics of a “gamer”, despite the reality that a large portion of game audiences fall outside of that category. Christine Tomlinson poses critical questions about the circumstances in which it is deemed acceptable to broach the topic of identity within gaming spaces, with an emphasis on players who have been marginalized in broader gaming culture, largely on the basis of gender and/or sexuality. In light of this dichotomy, Tomlinson observes how these marginalized players have formed their own communities to produce new individual and shared gaming identities and cultures as acts of resistance and resilience through which they can reclaim a position in an often-hostile environment and a slowly-changing industry and content landscape. Ultimately, Tomlinson argues that while these alternative communities should not need to exist, they have paved the way for a fracturing of gaming culture that provides marginalized players with safe and productive outlets for discussion and community.
