Thus, the games are seen as models of how similar hierarchies are created in the real world of so-called “meat culture”. The study considers how these games construct a hierarchy of classes of animals that are either included in, or excluded from, the realm of moral concern. Two games that both set out to avoid animal violence, and even promote animal care, are studied: Maxis’ The Sims 3: Pets (2011) and ConcernedApe’s Stardew Valley (2016). It argues that shifting the critical perspective from killing to killability allows us to study the implicit violence found in “nonviolent” or “friendly” games that usually garner little controversy. It focuses on what acts of violence are made possible in games, and against whom.
The article considers video games as procedural arguments on the killability and nonkillability of nonhuman animal species, especially marine animals.
