Modern gaming culture: approaches to the analysis of subjects, tasks, and functions

It is conditionally possible to talk about gaming culture as a fully formed phenomenon of current times after the speech by the CEO of one of the largest computer game development companies – Activision Blizzard at the end of 2015. The acquisition of the mobile game developer by the studio whose target audience is considered to be shooter (first-person shooter) and RPG (role-playing game, a genre based on elements of the gameplay of traditional board games) gamers was a smart strategic move to expand its audience. This decision is explained, fi rst of all, by the destruction of previously created stereotypes about gamers and the complete transformation of this audience as a result of rapidly developing digital technologies, which, in turn, significantly influences the formation of the idea of what computer games are today, whether they can contribute to socialization, carry cultural values, form ideological attitudes, and participate in the educational process.