Name: When games bring the past to life: Fact vs. fiction
Uploaded: 2025-10-31T07:55:47.013Z
Duration: 2 min 47 s
Description: Can games teach players about history? Series like Assassin’s Creed sell in the millions. Players immerse themselves in detailed portrayals of the past, but how accurate are the facts in the game?

Can games teach players about history? Series like Assassin’s Creed sell in the millions. Players immerse themselves in detailed portrayals of the past, but how accurate are the facts in the game?

Video games such as Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed are known for their detailed and realistic portrayals of historical settings, often advertising photorealistic accuracy. However, while these games offer immersive experiences, they sometimes prioritize entertainment over strict historical accuracy, omitting complex or painful aspects of history.

Independent studios have demonstrated that even sensitive historical subjects can be addressed in games, as seen in titles like 'Attentat 1942' and 'Through the Darkest of Times.' Experts note that digital games, like other forms of popular media, play a growing role in how people learn about and remember history, serving as accessible entry points for further exploration.

When games bring the past to life: Fact vs. fiction

This is our chance to break out of Norman. The Battle of Normandy in Call of Duty. It won't be easy. It feels authentic. But is it? And does it even have to be? So on the one hand, I don't think that games about history need to be accurate. First of all, you play them for having fun. But on the other hand, the producers of digital games, they advertise it a lot that they are so correct, that they are so authentic. And they do this by using something we call like photorealistic accuracy. In games like Assassin's Creed, players can explore ancient Egypt or Paris during the French Revolution. They can walk through virtual cities that almost seem real. In Call of Duty and Battlefield, players use detailed weapons and fight in locations where famous battles took place. That realism makes the games feel true, even when the story isn't. When you play a game about, let's say, the First World War, your authentic experience would be like sitting in the trench for several weeks, your foot is rotting away and then you put your head out of the trench, you get shot in the head and the game is over. So that wouldn't be fun. Balancing entertainment and historical accuracy is a challenge. Games set in World War II often focus on combat. But the complex and painful reality of those times, away from the battlefields, often gets neglected. It's hard to think about how you could play the Holocaust. Because normally we see playing something, doing it for fun. But this led to the problem that the developers didn't mention the Holocaust at all. Some independent game studios have proven that even the bleakest chapters of history can become part of a game. And through the darkest of times, players lead a fictional resistance group in Nazi-era Berlin, making hard choices to survive. We had to do something. Attentat 1942, developed by award-winning Czech game developers, focuses on Nazi occupation and persecution and is a mix of interactive storytelling and historically accurate events. Like other media formats, digital games have become part of how we remember. I'm a cultural historian and most of the things I know about US history I know from a TV series The Simpsons. We know that popular media help learning and can foster learning. What digital games can do, they can be a door opener.

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