Videogames: Design/Play/Disrupt

From: 08/09/2018
To:08/11/2018
london

V&A Museum

This exhibition provides a unique insight into the design process behind a selection of groundbreaking contemporary videogames. Design work, including concept art and prototypes, feature alongside large-scale immersive installations and interactives.

Design

What does it take to make a videogame? Rarely seen design materials from the desks and hard drives of leading designers sit alongside specially commissioned multimedia installations to provide new perspectives and insights into the craftsmanship and inspiration behind a selection of groundbreaking contemporary videogames. From the cinematic blockbusters of large AAA studios to the modest and often intimate work of independent designers, this section of the exhibition presents an eclectic and diverse range of voices and work from across game design. All are united by their ambitions to break boundaries.

Disrupt

As tools to make games have become more available and distribution has broadened, game designers have begun to engage more widely with social and political debates. The second section of the exhibition presents the work and voices of the influential game makers and commentators who are leading critical discussion and debates that challenge not only ideas about videogames and what they should be, but how this relates to society as a whole.

Play

Online player communities connected through servers and social platforms create, collaborate and spectate together. From mind-blowing megastructures built in Minecraft to the vast array of fan art that embraces and extends beloved virtual worlds, their work sees them transcend the role of the designer to democratise design on a vast scale. A large scale immersive installation in this section celebrates the dazzling imagination and creative chaos shown by videogame players.