“I never asked for it, but I got it and now I feel that my knowledge about history is even greater!” : Play, Encounter and Research in Europa Universalis IV

This article discusses interlinked findings that stem from the complex and dynamic ways that Grand Strategy video games, especially Europa Universalis IV (EUIV), represents history and how players engage with history outside the game. To discuss these points, the article draws upon data from a survey of 331 EUIV players and an Australian university case study involving 18 participants as well as other games studies research. The article explores how players, through their gameplay in a vast historical game world, encounter and gain some degree of familiarity with histories unknown to them. These newly encountered nations and histories confront players with new depictions about the past and may act as a catalyst for player curiosity and conducting historical research outside the game. The player then returns to the game, integrating their external historical research from outside of the game with their own historical experiences in-game, meaningfully connecting the two history mediums. The article builds on other learning models and highlights the play, encounter, and a research learning model where players learn history both inside and outside EUIV. The play, encounter, and research model places greater emphasis on the importance of player’s encountering new information inside the game and their curiosity about this new information prompting further research outside the game. This kind of in-game and external player engagement with EUIV and history can form a component of a larger whole of an informal learning of history with engagement of other gaming practices and historical sources.

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