Nature-based Gaming: A Reply

Abstract

We thank the three contributors to this colloquy for their responses to our paper, ‘Race the Wild’ (Sandbrook et al. in press), and to the editors for the chance to engage with colleagues in this way. We remain fascinated (and sometimes startled) by the diverse and complex ways in which animals, other organic and inorganic entities are drawn into digital entanglements. The digitalisation of what is commonly referred to in Western countries as ‘nature’ (Ducarme et al. 2020) is a defining feature of the contemporary era, as the literature on digital animals (e.g. Lupton 2023, Adams 2024), digital ecologies (e.g. Turnbull et al. 2023, Turnbull et al. 2024) and digital conservation or environmentalism (e.g. Arts et al. 2014, Bakker 2024) attests. We are delighted that our interlocutors broadly agree with us that digital gaming forms a distinctive, important and intriguing dimension of this phenomenon. We welcome their exploration and development of our arguments, and the examples they add to the debate. Here we respond to some of the points they have made.