Urgent, fascinating . . . will fundamentally change how you understand modern power. * KELLY CLANCY, author of PLAYING WITH REALITY * Osborn has done what too few researchers and journalists bother to do: take video games seriously as an information environment. The same ecosystems I've watched get exploited for disinformation, the Discord servers, the Twitch streams, the in-game communities, are mapped here with forensic clarity. Power Play is essential reading for anyone trying to understand where the next influence operation is being built. * ELIOT HIGGINS, founder of BELLINGCAT * Frequently surprising and utterly absorbing whether you're a gamer or not. Osborn shines a vital light on the significant and often troubling impact video games are having on global politics. * JONN ELLEDGE, author of A HISTORY OF THE WORLD IN 47 BORDERS * In Power Play, George Osborn lays out exactly how we got here: how technology developed for entertainment became a way for political campaigns and regimes to influence millions. He exposes how the Saudi Arabian, Chinese and Russian states and extremists across the world have leveraged the power of games, and how far behind democracies are in understanding or countering this. Anyone who still thinks that video games are trivial will learn from this book exactly why they are not. * KEZA MACDONALD, author of SUPER NINTENDO and Video Games Editor for the GUARDIAN * Unnervingly clear . . . Perfectly accessible for readers who know nothing about video games and frequently surprising even for those who know a lot, Power Play uncovers . . . the essential but often overlooked role of video games in shaping everything from the invention of the iPhone to the election of Donald Trump. This book is the best way for the rest of the world to catch up. * ROLLO ROMIG, author of I AM ON THE HIT LIST and writer for the NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE * Should be required reading for those worried about the future of their hobby - and the democratic leaders who could help change the game. * MATT HONEYCOMBE-FOSTER, Deputy Editor, POLITICO * A remarkable account of how and why video games became the most important entertainment space of the 21st century. Osborn writes with authority and passion. Anyone who cares about the intersection of politics and play - and everyone should - needs to read this book. * PROFESSOR PETE ETCHELLS, Bath Spa University, author of LOST IN A GOOD GAME * Essential reading for anyone trying to understand where culture, technology, and power collide. * RACHEL KOWERT, PhD, founder of PSYCHGEIST and Visiting Researcher at the University of Cambridge * A great book to introduce you to the most important cultural technique of this century and how it is used by our adversaries to corrode and undermine our democracies. * HENDRIK LESSER, Chairman, European Game Developers Federation * Gaming environments have been a frontier for geopolitical influence and state control for longer than most of us would have thought, yet our collective awareness remains dangerously low. George's book masterfully shines a much needed light on these issues, providing vital wake-up call for anyone concerned with the intersection of technology, power, and global security. * DOMINIK SWIECICKI, Senior National Expert at the European Commission * An eye-opening read detailing the malicious and nefarious ways external forces attempt (and sometimes succeed) to twist the joys of gaming into vehicles for political influence. * LUCY JAMES, host and senior video producer, GameSpot * It is easy to think of gaming as a virtual world that ends when the console turns off. Power Play makes clear, to veterans and n00bs alike, not just how games have become a contested terrain of diplomacy, politics and global security, but how and why democracies need to engage with this. * JOHN OXLEY, writer and consultant * George has captured one of the most important, and under-examined, dynamics driving international politics today: the way video games and the culture surrounding them are being used to influence our expectations of free speech and civil rights. Drawing on a deep familiarity with gaming as an industry, George links historical developments in technology, marketing, and culture to show how governments are building on and shaping the way young people experience and interpret the world. * JOSHUA FOUST, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Relations, Syracuse University * George Osborn is perhaps the first to see with real clarity what almost everyone else has missed: that video games are the coffee houses of our age, a vast third-space society connecting billions of people, many of them disenchanted with the world as it is. He shows how this immense network became politically consequential, and how the right has been far quicker than the left to grasp and exploit its potential. * THOMAS SMALL, co-host of Conflicted *
