(De)Colonizing Outer Space: Speculative Frontiers of Outer Space Exploration in Video Games

The narratives around the new frontiers of space exploration promise a future in which humans could become a multi-planetary species that will benefit from the exploitation of extraplanetary resources. Economic opportunities are driving large private investments in the space industry, assuming the role that once was of public institutions in the development of technologies for space exploration and raising concern around legal, ethical and sustainability issues. In this paper video games are interpreted as speculative media that can blend boundaries between the fictional and the actual. Science fiction video games are analyzed as media artifacts that are both representative of neoliberal and colonialist approaches to outer space exploration but, in virtue of their speculative potential, can also promote critical and alternative perspectives. The concepts that allow us to situate games, game worlds, and game mechanics in the context of anticipatory and critical design practices are discussed. It is argued that the acknowledgement and adoption of concepts, ideas, methodologies, approaches, and practices that can resonate both in design and game cultures addresses the need to confront the complexity of contemporary challenges, of which space exploration is a paradigmatic example, from multiple perspectives.