Furry Ex Machina: How does VRChat allow for moderninstances of digital identity generation and immersion inthe furry fandom?

This work proposes examining the social virtual reality (VR) platform, VRChat (VRChat, 2014) as a contemporary site of online avatar embodiment for the furry fandom, and through doing so contribute to the growing discussions around this platform as a site of potential social connectedness (Deighan et al, 2023), examinations in terms of embodiment and immersion (Asshoff, 2022), or as discussed via experimentation with avatars as a form of identity formation (Montemorano, 2020), among others.Whilst some might argue that VRChat is not a video game, if we draw upon the advanced topography of games outlined by Aarseth et al. (2003), VRChat fulfils the criteria of being a video game as a 1 st person, multiplayer game with dynamic environments and infinite teleology and therefore worthy of examination through this lens.Alongside the discussions above around VRChat, and as hinted with Asshoff's work, is the link between embodiment and immersion -the latter of which is greatly contested in academia.For instance, Brown and Cairns (2004) are drawn upon for their model on the different stages of immersion; engagement, engrossment, and total immersion in many works about video games (Jennett, et al., 2008;Michailidis, et al., 2018).This model of immersion does fail to acknowledge the differences in modes of involvement with the game texts (Ermi and Myr, 2005), which arguably leads to an arguable lack of universality to their claims.However, there are elements of this model that have been built upon that are prudent to use in the examination of VR games.