Idealised memories, identity continuity and micro-resistance: exploring video game nostalgia among Chinese World of Warcraft players

Playing classic video games is a popular leisure activity that is driven by nostalgia for the days of yore. Although prior studies recognise players as active participants, they often overlook their agency in shaping nostalgic experiences, limiting understanding of their motivations. We aim to investigate the nostalgic experiences among World of Warcraft (WoW) players in China. Through thematic analysis of nostalgic comments (N = 3,473) and semi-structured interviews (N = 31), we explore the multiple motivations of gaming nostalgia via a memory-identity-resistance framework. We found that WoW players often reshaped idealised memories of their home and youth through the video game, and used classic lines or shared experiences to strengthen their identity as veteran players, to express micro-resistance against social pressures, media changes, and uncertainty about the future. These findings reveal the social function of gaming nostalgia as a form of leisure. Video games not only preserve memories of past leisure, but also become a memory object themselves. This leisure activity is associated with individuals’ perceptions of identity continuity and with players’ sense of collective identity. While gaming nostalgia can be experienced as a form of resistance to contemporary challenges, it is also subject to commodification by game developers and operators.