North American and European Games

Abstract

This chapter introduces the field of Historical Game Studies, and analyzes representations of the Haitian Revolution in video games. It treats historical video games as a site of popular historical memory, and argues that historians need to analyze them. The chapter also presents debates about gamifying slavery. It then scrutinizes games on Atlantic slavery (including MECC’s Freedom!, Mission US: Flight to Freedom, and Playing History 2 — Slave Trade), before turning to those specifically invoking slave revolt in Saint-Domingue (especially Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Liberation and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry). The chapter considers Freedom Cry to be the best among this group, and it analyzes how it depicts colonial Saint-Domingue (Haiti) from the perspective of enslaved people. In addition, the chapter describes the creation of Freedom Cry (including interviews with individuals involved) and its reception among gamers (particularly Haitian Americans and African Americans).