The Theory of Presence and Its Capacities in Shaping the Religious Atmosphere in Video Games

The acquisition of video games and the gradual actuality of its capacity have attracted the attention of some researchers. This consideration has led to the formation of numerous research studies on video games in the academic community. After a while and by the variety of subjects as well as the extent of these studies, the need to provide a classification of the proposed research has become more evident. This is how the structure of vdeo game studies was introduced. In this classification, research approaches to video games based on their central theme maybe be divided into three parts: the mere study of video games, the study of the video games’ impact, and the study of the artistic and aesthetic aspects of video games. The studeis that pertain to video games itself consider this phenomenon as a game, studies that evaluates issues related to the impact of video gaming consider it as a media, and studies that care about the artistic and aesthetic aspects consider this phenomenon as an art. One of the theories that, while paying attention to the nature of video games as well as its impact aspects, seek to approach a video game as art, is the theory of presence. This theory of gaming endorses the gaming of a gamer to create a situation where the user feels in the game and belongs to the video game cyberspace. The theory of presence addresses the fields of unity formation between the user and the persona, and attempts, by introducing two patterns of presence in environment and presence in the narrative, examine the success rate of video games in creating conditions that leads to a unity between the user and the persona. One of the capabilities of this theory is helping to create a religious atmosphere in the virtual world of video games. Therefore, the present study seeks to study the research findings in descriptive-analytic method for its two main goals using the library and observation method for data collection. For the first purpose, it has been attempted to introduce the main components of the two patterns of presence in the environment presence and the narrative presence-based on practicing and practice-led approaches, examine the possibility of creating a religious video game focused on religious art theories. For the next purpose, it has also been attempted to explain and evaluate some of the capabilities, such as controlling religious characters and the agency’s authority to choose moral and immoral choices, in order to formulate the religious space in video games.