Gaming: Between Science and Media

This article continues the analysis of gaming from the perspective of I. Hoffman’s concept of everyday gaming. The referent social images formed in games and the emerging conflict between corporations and players are also considered. The work examines the situation that has developed in the Russian market, in particular, the bans on the part of Western corporations introduced in 2022 and Russian prospects for the formation of a full-fledged domestic gaming environment. The author notes that the gaming community has found itself being unprotected from the influence of corporations, social science is not able to comprehensively explain gaming as a specific social institution, and large-scale wars are unfolding in the information field for the possibility of broadcasting one’s own values. Gaming research is a new and promising direction for further research.