Power Play: Video Games, Politics, and the Battle for Global Influence
by George E. Osborn Prometheus Books 7/21/2026, hardcover SKU: 9781493094134 The evolution of video games from a niche pursuit to the world's largest entertainment medium, with billions of players and billions of dollars at stake, has made it a perfect place for states and non-state actors to advance their goals online. In Power Play, leading games industry expert George E. Osborn explores the burgeoning foreign and domestic movements to spread influence through video games, showing that our failure to date to take games seriously has led to a culture of complacency around their true impact and importance on the geopolitical stage. More than a simple form of entertainment, video games are an ecosystem that connects billions of people across the globe. Video games create spaces where people talk, share ideas, and build identities that bleed into our reality. And whilst democracies have underestimated the potential for influence in this space, others have seized the opportunity. This is why Russia has been funding the development of video games designed to promote their world view. It's why Saudi Arabia has acquired one of gaming's biggest publishers, EA, to help wash its reputation. It's why Steve Bannon utilized tactics learned from online game communities to propel Donald Trump to the White House. And it's why Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin carved video game references into his bullets. Supported by the insights of dozens of politicians, academics, and industry experts, Power Play is the vital guide to understanding this new frontier for political influence, and what democracies must do to protect play and harness its immense power before this essential battle for digital influence is lost for good. Reviews: "Gaming environments have been a frontier for geopolitical influence and state control for longer than most of us would have thought, yet our collective awareness remains dangerously low. Osborn's book masterfully shines a much needed light on these issues, providing vital wake-up call for anyone concerned with the intersection of technology, power, and global security." -- Dominik Swiecicki, Senior Analyst at the Swedish Psychological Defence Agency, currently Senior National Expert at the European Commission "An eye-opening read detailing the malicious and nefarious ways external forces attempt (and sometimes succeed) to twist the joys of gaming into vehicles for political influence." -- Lucy James, Host & Senior Video Producer, GameSpot "George Osborn is perhaps the first to see with real clarity what almost everyone else has missed: that video games are the coffee houses of our age, a vast third-space society connecting billions of people, many of them disenchanted with the world as it is. He shows how this immense network became politically consequential, and how the right has been far quicker than the left to grasp and exploit its potential." -- Thomas Small, Co-Host of Conflicted About the Author: George E. Osborn is a video games industry expert with over a decade and a half of experience explaining games to the wider world. Osborn was previously Head of Campaigns and Communications at the UK video games industry trade association, Ukie, where he drew upon his expertise in media, politics and the video games sector to tell the games industry's story to media, business, and politicians across the UK and beyond between 2019-2023. Since leaving Ukie, Osborn founded Half-Space Consulting - a business dedicated to bridging the divide between the games sector and the wider world with clients including regulators such as The Games Rating Authority, NGOs such as the United Nations, and not-for-profits such as The Lucy Faithfull Foundation. He is also the creator of Video Games Industry Memo (VGIM), a weekly newsletter covering the games industry for professionals, major regulators, policy officials, business leaders, and journalists around the world. A recognized voice within the media, Osborn and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Politico, Sky News, The Guardian, BBC World Service, Bloomberg and Times Radio, among many others, discussing the intersection of economic, regulatory, technological and cultural topics in regards to video games. He lives in London.