Power dynamics and order formation in mobile MOBA games : a Foucauldian analysis of "Honor of Kings"

Abstract: Video games can be seen as a media that immerses players. The formation of a good game order is an important guarantee for players to engage in electronic games. This paper selects the most popular mobile MOBA game in China, "Honor of Kings," as the research object to analyze the formation process of the game order. In previous studies, game order has often been understood as game rules or game mechanics, which is referred to as "procedurality." Procedurality believes that the function of game rules and game mechanics is to maintain the overall stability of the game system, establishing a binary opposition between "transgression" and "orderliness." This paper re-examines the connotation of game order through Foucault's power theory. From Foucault's perspective on power, game order should not be described as the overall stability of the game system but rather as the crystallization of fluid power. Foucault understands power as a relational network. To better analyze the operation process of the power network, this paper combines Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Affect Theory with Foucault's power theory, using the latter two as analytical tools for the former. Through the combination of ANT and Foucault's power theory, this paper analyzes how virtual objects in the game world promote the formation of power networks through translation and how power networks translate players' affect into emotion. This study collects research data through "game diaries" and "participatory observation" and organizes the data using thematic coding. In the analysis process, we divide Foucault's power mechanism into macro-level power strategies and micro-level power sequences according to Foucault's power analysis methodology, which are used to refer to the macro-level order patterns and micro-level order distribution, respectively. Power strategies guide the distribution of power sequences. The study found that there are two power strategies (order patterns) in "Honor of Kings." One is the individualized power strategy, in which players defeat opponents by developing a powerful individual. The other is the holistic power strategy, in which players defeat opponents through teamwork. Different power strategies lead to the formation of different actor networks. The "disorderly" behavior in the eyes of "proceduralists" is actually a misunderstanding of individualized strategies by elitist values. This paper argues that although the two power strategies construct different game order patterns, their starting point is to enable players to better survive in the game world. Following Foucault's concept of "biopolitics," this paper proposes "biopolitics of media space." This study uses this concept to explain that even in the game world, the maintenance of virtual life still relies on power as a guarantee.