Monstrous Desires in Pornographic Videogames

Petri Lankoski

Södertörn University

DOI:

In DiGRA 2026 Conference Proceedings

Definitive version will appear at dl.digra.org

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how indie pornographic videogames represent and sexualise monstrosity. Twenty-five games were analysed using qualitative content analysis to examine how design, narrative, and visual elements articulate the relationship between sexuality, fear, and taboo. Three recurring themes emerged: Sexy, Not Human, and Horny; Monstrous Seduction and the Erosion of Will; and Dominance, Violence, and Sexual Control. These themes reveal how pornographic horror games mobilise the monstrous body as a site where desire, disgust, and transgression intersect. These games employ mechanics and aesthetics that invite players to engage with fantasies of danger, submission, and control. The fusion of attraction and repulsion becomes a core ludic and affective dynamic, shaping how players experience the interplay of pleasure and horror. The analysis argues that such games reconfigure cultural narratives of gender and sexuality through interactive design, positioning the monstrous body as both object of desire and vehicle for exploring the limits of acceptable pleasure.

Keywords

monster, pornography, single-player videogames, desire

Parties, partying, and party games in single-player videogames

The authoritative version is published in DiGRA 2025 conference proceedings https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2025i2.2461

Petri Lankoski (Södertörn University, Sweden) & Tanja Välisalo (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)

ABSTRACT

Parties and partying appear in single-player videogames but have been studied little. In this paper, we investigate how parties are used and represented in videogames. In this explorative study, we analyzed 22 games to answer the research question. Parties in games are often intertextual references to film and television as well as to party games in popular culture. The analysis resulted in the following themes: Party as a Backdrop, Party as Space for Social Interaction, Party as a Place to Have Sex (with subthemes Bodies Collide, Party Games as Minigames and Party Games Motivating Sexual Encounters), Party as a Place for Voyeurism, and Organising a Party as a Challenge.

Keywords

parties, party games, intertextuality, videogames

Pornographic Games on Steam: Genres, Modes, and Milieus

Petri Lankoski & Tanja Välisalo

In Proceedings of DiGRA 2023, Authorative version at www.digra.org/dl/

ABSTRACT

Pornographic games have historically been distributed outside of mainstream channels. Steam, in 2018, change its policy allowing uncensored pornographic games to be sold. We found 452 games or DLCs that were tagged as mature content and sexual content. We analyzed 40 of those games in detail. 17.5% of these games only contain nudity while the rest graphically depicted sex. Visual novels and adventure games were the most numerous genres. Drama and fantasy were the most used milieus. Two of the games contained only male-male sex whereas the rest depicted heterosexual sex or heterosexualized same-sex sex. The pornographic scenes or nude images were tied to the game’s progression structure.

Keywords

Steam, pornography, genre

Platform-produced Heteronormativity: A Content Analysis of Adult Videogames on Patreon

Petri Lankoski, Thomas Apperley, J. Tuomas Harvianen

Games and Culture, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15554120221084453 (CC By)

Abstract

This article examines the prominent role of Patreon in the rapidly growing sector of crowdfunded pornographic games. Recent research has indicated that, on average, more people (patrons) are funding pornographic digital games on Patreon than other (non-adult) digital games. Graphtreon’s ‘Top Patreon Creators’ list from 9 June 2021 includes six NSFW game projects among the top 50 projects (ranked by number of Patrons).¹ For example, Summertime Saga (Dark Cookie), the highest-ranked pornographic game, is third in terms of the number of funders, with 27,791 patrons funding $74,657 per month. While Wild Life – An Adult RPG (Adeptus Steve), which reportedly only had 9417 patrons as of 9 June 2021, receives a monthly income of $94,129 from those pledges.² The current funding levels for both Patreon projects are considerably higher than when we began our sampling: since January 2020, the funding level for Summertime Saga has risen by 27.86%, while for Wild Life – An Adult RPG it has risen by 21.45%.

Keywords: adult games, content analysis, heteronormativity, non-consensual sex, Patreon funding, pornography

Spider plots in R

This is mainly a note for myself

Patreon and Porn Games: Crowdfunding Games, Reward Categories and Backstage Passes

Petri Lankoski & Mikolaj Dymek

In DiGRA 2020 conference proceedings. The definitive version will be on DiGRA digital library.

Abstract

Patreon is a crowdfunding platform where pornographic games are funded; even the most successful game developer in terms of the number of members is developing a pornographic game. We looked at 42 developers and their Patreon pages in order to examine the effects of the Patreon crowdfunding model on videogame development. Especially we studied membership rewards. As a result, developers were not only selling the game, but rewards we much about Community, Influence, and Recognition. Regulating Content Access is used regularly but often the latest version of the game is made available to everybody, just later to the members funding the development. We propose that certain rewards are similar to backstage passes in the music business and suggest that Patron pornographic games funding deviates from the crowdfunding model is not following mainly product-oriented commodity logic but a more community-oriented concept.

Constructive Alignment in Teaching Game Research in Game Development Bachelors Programme

Petri Lankoski and Mirjam P. Eladhari

Paper presented at Teaching Games: Pedagogical Approaches – DiGRA 2019 Pre-Conference Workshop(TGPA:DiGRA2019) August 6, 2019, Kyoto, Japan.

Abstract

This paper presents a case study of a Bachelor level game research methods course (15ECTS). The course covers observations, interviews, and introduction to statistical analysis. The course set-up follows constructive alignment design where the aim is that the learning goals, learning tasks, and evaluation are aligned. During the course, students first learn re-search design and later design their research based on a set of examples and conduct data gathering and analysis. The evaluation of the pedagogical approach used is based on students’ learning diaries where the focus is the methods and applying methods. Qualitative evaluation indicates that students can better describe their research designs and analyses.

Keywords

pedagogy, constructive alignment, research methods, game design research

Constructive Alignment in Teaching Game Research in Game Development Bachelors Programme

Lankoski & P Eladhari

A paper to be presented at Teaching Games: Pedagogical Approaches (at DiGRA 2019 Conference)

This paper presents a case study of a Bachelor level game research methods course (15 ECTS). The course covers observations, interviews, and introduction to statistical analysis. The course set-up follows constructive alignment design where the aim is that the learning goals, learning tasks, and evaluation are aligned. During the course, students first learn research design and later design their research based on a set of examples and conduct data gathering and analysis. The evaluation of the pedagogical approach used is based on students’ learning diaries where the focus is the methods and applying methods. Qualitative evaluation indicates that students can better describe their research designs and analyses.

Methods, History, and Impact: Directions in Game Design Research

Forgot to blog about New Research Perspectives on Game Design and Development Education workshop paper.

Hartmut Koenitz, Christian Roth, Elisa D. Mekler, Staffan Björk, Petri Lankoski, Mirjam Palosaari Eladhari, Annakaisa Kultima, & Ben Medler
Abstract
Research into the design aspect of games has proliferated since the early 1970s. Currently, early historical overviews appear and categorical divisions within the field become more pronounced. It is therefore timely to reflect on the development until today, take stock of the current landscape, and consider future topics. This position paper does so by bringing together seasoned and emerging scholars, as well as practitioners and industry insiders. Together, they consider which topics are already engaged, and what new ones might be necessary. In addition, the paper will discuss the relationship between game design research and independent/ industry practices as well as implications for game design education.

Full-text PDF

2018 DiGRA Distinguished Scholar

I have the honor to be selected as one of 2018 DiGRA Distinguished Scholars.

In 2016 DiGRA established the Distinguished Scholars program to recognize senior scholars in the field of game studies who have been at the forefront of the development of rigorous scholarship, the establishment of game studies and game development programs, and who have made significant contributions to DiGRA itself as an organization.

The complete list of DiGRA Distinguished Scholars: http://www.digra.org/the-association/distinguished-scholars/