Historical verisimilitude and the role of the historian in grand strategy

This talk explores conflicts between player immersion and historical accuracy in games such as Sid Meier's Civilization and Crusader Kings
About this Event

A key selling point of many historical games is “immersion:” the idea that a historically-informed game will allow the player a deeper engagement. This rather hopeful framing carries with it its own challenges, namely: what happens when there is a conflict between player immersion and historical accuracy; when an accurate depiction “breaks immersion”? Especially in a commercial market, how do narrative designers bridge this gap?

Based on his experience as a historian for Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, Civ VII, and Crusader Kings 3, Prof. Andrew Johnson (Associate Professor, Stockholm University and Senior Historian, Firaxis Games) will explore how these games struggled with that gap. He will question both concepts of “immersion” and “accuracy,” and ask about the role of the historian in a field that both expresses a desire for history and an ambivalence about its meaning.