Video games and place branding: A netnographic study of Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Abstrakti

Video games offer tourism stakeholders new opportunities for diversification. Focusing on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a video game set in feudal Japan, we explore the feasibility of leveraging the game as part of Wakayama Prefecture’s tourism offering, a specific region prominently featured in the game. Implications for how Finnish tourism industry might leverage video game tourism in a similar manner are drawn. A two-part multimethod exploratory study is conducted: 1) a study of popular online discussion forum r/AssassinsCreedShadows (forum threads n=150 & comments n=421), drawing inspiration from the broader research tradition of netnography, and 2) a qualitative survey (n=38) with local tourism stakeholders in and prospective international visitors to Wakayama Prefecture. Findings show how players organically discuss tourism-related topics, e.g. building real-life itineraries based on Kansai-area locations seen in-game or sharing tips for what to pack for a visit to Japan. This provides support for the potential positive effect Assassin’s Creed Shadows might have for inbound international tourism in Japan. The qualitative survey further shows a generally positive attitude towards themeing different tourism offerings, e.g. restaurant experiences, photospots, or game-inspired activities such as ‘leap of faiths’, around the game. However, caution is needed so that new initiatives do not disrupt local heritage or residents’ day-to-day life. This paper brings nuance to the concept of authenticity of tourism experience by introducing prospect-based authenticity – a desire to validate imagined experiences before they even happen – to design and develop tourism offerings.