Worlds of Light, Fading. Dead Games and End-of-Life Software as Ruins of Digital Interactive Entertainment

This paper explores the concept of ruins in interactive entertainment, focusing on games that become ruins due to abandonment, technological decay, or other processes unique to digital media. A comparative analysis of physical and digital ruins, their formation, contexts, and use, offers insight into how contemporary society deals with the remnants of its past—both physical and digital. The analysis highlights three main points: the disappearance of actual digital ruins contrasted with the persistence of their remnants, the “digitalisation” of certain processes visible in material ruins, and the emergence of new types of industrial sublime. The study underscores how digitalization transforms the nature of ruins, reflecting the evolving relationship between memory, decay, and technology.