Introduction
Video games can reveal a great deal about the social and economic values of the culture that produces and consumes them. Although many games appear as simple fun or escapist entertainment, they often mirror deeper ideological frameworks, including the belief in unfettered markets and the heroic individual’s ability to overcome all obstacles. In the United States, this way of thinking is frequently linked to the philosophy known as neoliberalism, a perspective that celebrates free markets, deregulation, and minimal government intervention in private property and economic exchange. Video games set in virtual worlds that reward independence, resource-gathering, and violent encounters with minimal social or regulatory consequences can thus be interpreted as reflecting, reproducing, or even critiquing these neoliberal ideas.Neoliberal concepts, however, do not stop at American borders. They inform global capitalism, which means they also surface in games created in countries that do not necessarily share every American cultural assumption. Japan, for example, has one of the world’s largest video game industries. Japanese society emphasizes harmony, hierarchy, and group cooperation, values that differ in some respects from the more extreme versions of individualism evident in American neoliberal tradition. Nonetheless, many Japanese-developed games function within similar market systems, often including elements of “rags-to-riches” narratives—though they frequently merge this approach with storylines that emphasize teamwork and group identity. These patterns take on added significance when examined alongside the concept of “power distance,” a term that helps explain how cultures vary in their acceptance of hierarchy and deference to authority. By comparing how games from the United States and Japan represent power, competition, and personal freedom, it is possible to see how neoliberalism intersects with other cultural values.
Neoliberalism emerges as a central concept in video game worlds, particularly in adventure or role-playing genres where players accumulate wealth, skills, and property. These virtual environments often reflect wider social beliefs about freedom, regulation, and inequality. They also illuminate how Japan’s collectivist traditions and distinct approaches to hierarchy can reshape the neoliberal hero, even when underlying game mechanics embrace free-market competition. Power distance further illustrates how American and Japanese players, developers, and cultural observers interpret authority, individualism, and heroism in virtual spaces.
Understanding Neoliberalism and Its Influence on American Culture
Neoliberalism is a political and economic philosophy that has gained enormous traction in the United States in recent decades. Though the word “liberal” appears in its name, neoliberal thought is not necessarily aligned with progressive or socially liberal politics in the common usage of the term. Instead, the “liberal” in neoliberalism refers to classical liberalism, an older political tradition that highlights individual rights, private property, and market freedom from government constraints. Over time, this tradition has evolved into a modern framework in which market competition is viewed as the best means of organizing society and achieving social and economic goals.
In American politics, neoliberalism does not map cleanly onto a single party or ideology. It is often identified with conservative figures who promote smaller government, lower taxes, and deregulation to boost business. However, many centrist Democrats and moderate Republicans also embrace neoliberal economic policies. Neoliberal economists and thinkers argue that leaving markets free to operate, unburdened by excessive government interference, fosters more wealth, innovation, and higher living standards. Critics respond by pointing out that deregulation and competition do not address structural inequalities, such as racism, unequal access to education, or large disparities in inherited wealth. Critics further note that deregulation and lowered taxes disproportionately benefit those who already possess considerable capital or power, thereby widening the gap between rich and poor.
Despite these debates, neoliberalism has become so deeply embedded in American life that many people treat it as the default economic framework. Media outlets regularly feature commentators who discuss the economy as though free markets, competition, and deregulation are inevitable or universally beneficial. Corporations hold significant sway over legislation through campaign contributions and lobbying, a situation that is further facilitated by legal decisions treating corporate spending on elections as a protected form of speech.
Video games, as cultural artifacts emerging from this climate, frequently incorporate storylines and mechanics reflecting neoliberal ideals. This is particularly visible in games centered around resource accumulation, where the core activity is building wealth or power. These games frequently depict individual heroes who overcome adversity and garner financial success without much regard for communal obligations or regulatory frameworks. Such narratives reiterate the idea of “bootstrapping”—the notion that personal ambition and determination are sufficient to achieve virtually unlimited success.
The Neoliberal Hero in Video Games
Cultural analysis of video games involves recognizing that games do not emerge in a vacuum. Designers, coders, and artists develop games within societies that uphold specific beliefs, values, and ideologies. In the United States, individualism and faith in open markets are part of the cultural mainstream. These values often manifest in video games through stories featuring a lone hero who starts with minimal resources and accumulates wealth or power through personal effort. The resulting virtual environment seldom enforces taxes or imposes legal boundaries on resource ownership. Such mechanics create a fantasy space in which the player can relish unregulated competition and the rush of personal gain.
Grand Theft Auto (GTA), an iconic American series, demonstrates this pattern. The game’s open-world design—set in fictional cities modeled on real American locations—allows players to roam freely. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the main character begins with almost nothing and progressively increases personal wealth through missions that run the spectrum from petty crime to grand heists. The city’s government is barely a factor, seldom requiring taxes, and the public services that exist (police, for instance) can be bypassed with a moderate amount of effort. The streets are magically cleared of burning vehicles or bodies after a short interval, letting the player’s destructive actions go largely unchecked. This scenario functions as a neoliberal fantasy: it privileges individual gain, overlooks social structures that might restrain excessive behavior, and awards the player all benefits of wealth accumulation without the normal burdens of collective responsibility.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag offers a comparable scenario set in a pirate-themed Caribbean. The protagonist, Edward Kenway, gains wealth and power by looting ships and building a crew, all without the heavy hand of government oversight. The result is another example of a neoliberal or free-market fantasy that glamorizes personal initiative and material success, placing any moral or systemic implications at the edges of the narrative. Similar structures appear in post-apocalyptic role-playing games such as Fallout, where government institutions have collapsed and characters must fend for themselves. Such games remove most constraints on personal action and transform competition for scarce resources into a central game mechanic.
All these examples reveal how neoliberal ideology becomes embedded in both storylines and game mechanics. By situating heroes in settings with limited regulation, game designers echo cultural values that champion individual merit and entrepreneurial spirit. Players quickly learn that success is possible and fun in a context where one’s personal drive and skill matter most. While this is an appealing fantasy, it mirrors real-world debates about freedom, opportunity, and the role of government in creating or obstructing those possibilities.
The Illusion of Choice and The Embedding of Neoliberal Values
Because American culture commonly endorses competition and individualism, game settings that remove regulations or taxes can feel natural to many players. The idea that “hard work leads to personal triumph” reflects broader American myths of self-reliance. For instance, national history frequently celebrates figures like Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, crediting them as lone pioneers who revolutionized their fields. In reality, such figures led teams and benefited from existing social structures, but the popular narratives tend to elevate the individual at the expense of collective contributors.
Video games operate in a similar manner. A single protagonist—controlled by the player—dominates the storyline, winning battles, accumulating money, and gaining influence. Sidekicks and other non-playable characters (NPCs) exist in supporting roles. Players often disregard them, focusing on how to boost personal stats or finances. This mirrors a highly individualistic story structure, reinforcing a cultural preference for praising lone heroes rather than collaborative achievements.
Furthermore, these games commonly ignore how inequality can limit individuals in the real world. Structural discrimination or lack of quality education may prevent people from advancing economically, no matter how hard they work. Yet titles such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas show characters overcoming major social and economic hurdles in ways that disregard systemic factors. The outcome is a simplified narrative where individual tenacity is sufficient to succeed, reflecting the core neoliberal idea that free markets and determination will solve obstacles that, in actuality, are far more complex.
Such framing helps explain the appeal of games that facilitate a “bootstrapping” approach. By rewarding personal initiative, removing taxes, and permitting violence with only minor consequences, these worlds become playgrounds of unregulated competition. They showcase the neoliberal hero within a fully realized digital space, fulfilling the dream of rising from nothing to riches solely through personal talent and persistence.
Power Distance and Cultural Variations in Authority
Power distance is a useful concept for understanding how different cultures respond to inequalities in status or authority. Developed by social psychologist Geert Hofstede, it describes how some societies readily accept large disparities in power, while others prefer more equal distributions of authority. In high power distance societies, unequal power distribution is seen as natural, and there is strong deference to elders or superiors. In contrast, low power distance societies prioritize equality, encourage open dialogue with authority figures, and foster flatter social structures where leadership is more open to challenge.
The United States is commonly described as having low power distance in comparison to many other nations, although it still contains glaring inequalities. Americans often see themselves as rebellious or resistant to hierarchical domination. This viewpoint resonates with the neoliberal ethos of individual empowerment and free competition. Many American-made games depict a protagonist who challenges a corrupt system or fights oppressive leaders, effectively reasserting the value of personal initiative over deference to authority.
Japan, by contrast, is sometimes placed in a moderate or higher power distance range. Japanese culture often treats hierarchy as natural or productive, emphasizing respect for superiors and elders. This does not imply that Japanese citizens lack ambition, but they may channel that ambition through existing structures or communal goals rather than individual defiance. Such attitudes color how hero narratives develop in video games. A Japanese hero might spend more time proving worth or earning a place in the existing order rather than destroying the hierarchy itself.
For example, Fable—a Western role-playing game (RPG) created by Lionhead Studios—focuses on a single hero whose personal motivations and moral choices shape the entire story. Although friends and non-player characters exist, the central narrative highlights the protagonist’s progression from youth to adulthood, ultimately leading to renown, wealth, or even infamy. Decisions about how to wield newfound power—whether to protect townspeople or dominate them—lie almost entirely with the player, reflecting the cultural assumption that individual will and personal ethics determine one’s path. The hero stands apart as someone capable of altering the broader social order through ambition, virtue, or both.
By contrast, the Japanese RPG game Final Fantasy VII, frames its hero’s journey in more collective terms. Although Cloud Strife is the central figure, he relies on a team of allies who share overlapping motivations, including resistance to the Shinra Corporation’s environmental exploitation. Individual determination still matters, but the narrative’s emphasis on companionship, interconnected backstories, and mutual responsibility situates Cloud’s growth within a group fighting for a shared goal. Despite both games featuring standard role-playing elements—such as leveling up, acquiring currency, and obtaining items—Fable centers on the power of one hero’s choices to reshape an entire realm, whereas Final Fantasy VII highlights a communal effort to confront entrenched authority.
The United States often perceives itself as egalitarian, which means it values the principle that all people should be treated equally and that no single group should have a significantly higher status than others. This outlook aligns with a lower power distance rating, reflecting the idea that people are relatively comfortable challenging or questioning authority. Many American game designers highlight this perspective by allowing players to overthrow dictators, topple corporations, or evade powerful institutions, reinforcing a cultural preference for personal autonomy and resistance to strict hierarchies.
In Japan, the acceptance of hierarchy in workplaces, schools, and families can lead to different narrative structures. The hero’s journey may involve cooperating with or proving worthiness within existing systems. Even when a Japanese protagonist has an extraordinary destiny, success typically arises through collaboration rather than solo rebellion. These narrative patterns are subtly shaped by the sense that social order and relationships deserve respect, an outlook that stands apart from the more confrontational style found in many American games.
A Global Perspective: Japanese Game Developers and Neoliberalism
Although neoliberalism is strongly associated with the United States and other Western nations, its influence has become truly global. Worldwide corporations, international markets, and the pervasive spread of mass media mean that the free-market focus of neoliberalism appears across the globe, including in Japan. Japan’s video game industry is vast and remarkably influential, producing titles such as Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, and The Legend of Zelda—franchises with massive global fanbases.
At the same time, Japan has a distinctive cultural and historical context that diverges from American norms. Traditional Japanese culture, for instance, places a high value on group harmony, respect for elders, and hierarchical structures in workplaces or families. This orientation tends toward what sociologists label collectivism, as opposed to the strong individualism more typical of the United States. While “collectivist” may be too broad a term for modern Japanese society, this distinction helps show that American-style neoliberal ideas land in a cultural environment that may adapt them differently.
Many Japanese role-playing games involve rags-to-riches or coming-of-age arcs but place significant narrative emphasis on teamwork and group cohesion. An iconic example is once again Final Fantasy VII, which critiques corporate greed through the Shinra Corporation’s exploitation of planetary life energy. The heroes, led by main character Cloud Strife, are not simply lone vigilantes; they rely on a party of allies to collectively fight corruption. Initially, the main character Cloud Strife seems to embody the lone-hero archetype: he is a skilled, self-assured mercenary primarily interested in personal profit. As the narrative unfolds, however, Cloud experiences multiple crises where his allies have to rescue him, highlighting how his survival and growth depend on their shared support. Over time, he transitions from a seemingly neoliberal hero—pursuing individual goals—to someone who flourishes because of his trust in friends like Tifa, Barret, and Aerith. This evolution reflects the importance of group harmony and collective effort in Japanese culture. Even though the mechanics of leveling up and acquiring resources remain, Cloud’s transformation underlines that true strength emerges not from solitary ambition but from reliance on a tightly knit team—a perspective aligned with Japan’s values of social interdependence.
Nevertheless, Japanese developers remain participants in a global market system. Their games often thrive internationally, meaning they must appeal to tastes shaped by capitalist competition. A well-known example is Monster Hunter, an action role-playing series in which players take on the role of hunters who track and battle large, fantastical creatures. Much of the game revolves around accepting “quests” to defeat specific monsters, gathering resources from their environments and fallen foes, and then using these materials to craft stronger weapons and armor. Although it is a collective project, since players frequently team up with others in cooperative missions, individuals still earn personal rewards and work toward improved gear. This structure shows how a collectivist orientation—in this case, cooperative multiplayer—can coexist with resource accumulation and a drive for personal advancement, fitting comfortably within a neoliberal framework.
This combination represents a hybrid approach. The neoliberal logic of resource collection is strongly present, but group loyalty and harmonious relationships among characters also take center stage. Such a blend can cater to Western audiences who appreciate individual progression and to Japanese audiences who recognize values of group cooperation. The result is a highly marketable product that engages a wide range of global players.
At the same time, Japan has a distinctive cultural and historical context that diverges from American norms. Traditional Japanese culture, for instance, places a high value on group harmony, respect for elders, and hierarchical structures in workplaces or families. This orientation tends toward what sociologists label collectivism, as opposed to the strong individualism more typical of the United States. While “collectivist” may be too broad a term for modern Japanese society, this distinction helps show that American-style neoliberal ideas land in a cultural environment that may adapt them differently.
Many Japanese role-playing games involve rags-to-riches or coming-of-age arcs but place significant narrative emphasis on teamwork and group cohesion. An iconic example is once again Final Fantasy VII, which critiques corporate greed through the Shinra Corporation’s exploitation of planetary life energy. The heroes, led by main character Cloud Strife, are not simply lone vigilantes; they rely on a party of allies to collectively fight corruption. Initially, the main character Cloud Strife seems to embody the lone-hero archetype: he is a skilled, self-assured mercenary primarily interested in personal profit. As the narrative unfolds, however, Cloud experiences multiple crises where his allies have to rescue him, highlighting how his survival and growth depend on their shared support. Over time, he transitions from a seemingly neoliberal hero—pursuing individual goals—to someone who flourishes because of his trust in friends like Tifa, Barret, and Aerith. This evolution reflects the importance of group harmony and collective effort in Japanese culture. Even though the mechanics of leveling up and acquiring resources remain, Cloud’s transformation underlines that true strength emerges not from solitary ambition but from reliance on a tightly knit team—a perspective aligned with Japan’s values of social interdependence.
Nevertheless, Japanese developers remain participants in a global market system. Their games often thrive internationally, meaning they must appeal to tastes shaped by capitalist competition. A well-known example is Monster Hunter, an action role-playing series in which players take on the role of hunters who track and battle large, fantastical creatures. Much of the game revolves around accepting “quests” to defeat specific monsters, gathering resources from their environments and fallen foes, and then using these materials to craft stronger weapons and armor. Although it is a collective project, since players frequently team up with others in cooperative missions, individuals still earn personal rewards and work toward improved gear. This structure shows how a collectivist orientation—in this case, cooperative multiplayer—can coexist with resource accumulation and a drive for personal advancement, fitting comfortably within a neoliberal framework.
This combination represents a hybrid approach. The neoliberal logic of resource collection is strongly present, but group loyalty and harmonious relationships among characters also take center stage. Such a blend can cater to Western audiences who appreciate individual progression and to Japanese audiences who recognize values of group cooperation. The result is a highly marketable product that engages a wide range of global players.
Expanding The Idea of The Rags-To-Riches Narrative
Rags-to-riches stories remain especially prominent in both American and Japanese contexts. In the United States, these narratives are frequently associated with the American Dream: the idea that no matter one’s starting place, effort and determination can yield success. However, the American Dream has never been universally accessible, given systemic inequities rooted in the nation’s history. Nonetheless, video games often distill the theme down to a formula where the hero’s personal growth mirrors a rapid climb from poverty to affluence. By ignoring real-world barriers—such as lack of capital or discrimination—these games amplify the core myth of endless upward mobility.
In Japan, there is a comparable cultural emphasis on diligence and perseverance, sometimes encapsulated by the word “ganbaru,” which implies doing one’s best and never giving up. Japanese narratives in video games often revolve around characters who rigorously train, accumulate abilities, and eventually surmount impossible odds. This principle also appears in other forms of Japanese media, most notably anime—particularly shonen anime, which is a genre generally aimed at a young male audience but widely enjoyed by many demographics. Shonen anime emphasizes themes of personal growth, competition, teamwork, and the protagonist’s determination to prevail in the face of escalating challenges. Although these narratives echo the neoliberal idea of progress and self-improvement, they typically incorporate a stronger focus on communal or collective elements. The protagonist may be uniquely gifted, yet stories often highlight the vital role of friends and allies whose support is crucial to overcoming adversity.
A recurring element of these neoliberal-style game worlds concerns how they depict the consequences of violence. Open-world American video games tend to centralize violence as the main vehicle of progression, yet punishment or lasting societal repercussions for that violence are minimal. Players might wreak havoc on city streets with only cursory interference from police, and the environment resets quickly. This pattern creates a liberating sensation, since moral or legal complexities do not obstruct the player’s path. The game thus echoes a strain of American culture that resists regulation as an intrusion on individual freedom.
Some may argue that this is a mere simplification for entertainment. Nevertheless, it can also be interpreted as a reflection of an American worldview that sees government oversight as restrictive, rather than protective of public welfare. Post-apocalyptic games extend this logic by removing governments altogether, allowing players nearly total freedom. This scenario references older Western debates about humanity’s “state of nature,” wherein authority disappears and individuals must rely entirely on their own instincts.
Japanese titles sometimes handle violence and its moral consequences differently. Many feature elaborate storylines that situate combat within a cosmic or societal framework, implying that violent actions carry significant weight. Role-playing games frequently revolve around saving entire realms, and the hero’s battles aim to restore order rather than merely enrich the hero. This moral or spiritual dimension can soften the stark individualism found in American sandbox games, even if the underlying mechanics still entail resource collection and upgrading gear.
In Japan, there is a comparable cultural emphasis on diligence and perseverance, sometimes encapsulated by the word “ganbaru,” which implies doing one’s best and never giving up. Japanese narratives in video games often revolve around characters who rigorously train, accumulate abilities, and eventually surmount impossible odds. This principle also appears in other forms of Japanese media, most notably anime—particularly shonen anime, which is a genre generally aimed at a young male audience but widely enjoyed by many demographics. Shonen anime emphasizes themes of personal growth, competition, teamwork, and the protagonist’s determination to prevail in the face of escalating challenges. Although these narratives echo the neoliberal idea of progress and self-improvement, they typically incorporate a stronger focus on communal or collective elements. The protagonist may be uniquely gifted, yet stories often highlight the vital role of friends and allies whose support is crucial to overcoming adversity.
Violence, Regulation, And the Role of Consequences
Some may argue that this is a mere simplification for entertainment. Nevertheless, it can also be interpreted as a reflection of an American worldview that sees government oversight as restrictive, rather than protective of public welfare. Post-apocalyptic games extend this logic by removing governments altogether, allowing players nearly total freedom. This scenario references older Western debates about humanity’s “state of nature,” wherein authority disappears and individuals must rely entirely on their own instincts.
Japanese titles sometimes handle violence and its moral consequences differently. Many feature elaborate storylines that situate combat within a cosmic or societal framework, implying that violent actions carry significant weight. Role-playing games frequently revolve around saving entire realms, and the hero’s battles aim to restore order rather than merely enrich the hero. This moral or spiritual dimension can soften the stark individualism found in American sandbox games, even if the underlying mechanics still entail resource collection and upgrading gear.
Real-World Infrastructures and Contradictions
The production, distribution, and consumption of video games rely on complex corporate structures and, to some degree, government support. Large companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft operate across national boundaries, pay taxes (though often minimized through legal loopholes), and comply with diverse regulations in multiple countries. Players require stable electricity, internet connectivity, and consumer electronics infrastructure. The discrepancy between in-game fantasies of an unregulated marketplace and the actual, highly regulated environment sustaining the game industry can be viewed as a significant contradiction.
In the United States, many citizens’ retirement savings are tied to the stock market or private investment accounts, binding them to corporate success in ways that reinforce capitalist and neoliberal economic structures. At the same time, the demand for consumer goods, including video games, depends on social stability, job markets, and public services. Japan, facing its own economic challenges and demographic shifts, also balances collectivist traditions with market-oriented reforms. Both nations deal with tensions between cultural values (such as group harmony or personal freedom) and economic imperatives linked to global capitalism.
Video Games as Cultural Texts
Video games are a dominant form of modern entertainment, surpassing film in revenue and popularity among many demographics. The themes and mechanics found in these games influence how people spend their time, how they engage with friends, and even how they envision society. Grand Theft Auto, for instance, has sold millions of copies, meaning that a large portion of the population has directly or indirectly encountered its unregulated, violence-prone environment.
Analyzing games in an academic context highlights the ways in which media can reinforce or question social values. The simplified systems in game worlds—where violence is barely punished, taxes do not exist, and wealth flows from the barrel of a gun—pose interesting questions about freedom, opportunity, and responsibility. These digital realms may offer an exhilarating sense of personal power, but they can also reproduce the assumption that individuals alone shape their destiny, overlooking systemic inequalities in real life.
Critical engagement with these ideological underpinnings enriches an understanding of modern culture by showing how media, technology, and society intersect. Rather than treating gameplay as mere entertainment, this approach reveals how video games reflect and reinforce broader cultural narratives, economic ideas, and social values.
Conclusion
In the United States, neoliberalism has long dominated mainstream economic thought, promoting open competition and minimal government intervention. These ideas are evident in numerous American-produced games where accumulating wealth and personal power requires neither taxation nor regulation. The result is a rags-to-riches fantasy that resonates with cherished national myths of self-determination.
Meanwhile, Japanese developers create games that operate in the same global market but reflect distinct cultural norms, including collectivist leanings and higher comfort with hierarchical structures. This difference emerges partly from the acceptance of power distance, with Japanese games often emphasizing cooperation, duty to others, and harmony. While free-market mechanics still shape many Japanese titles, their narrative arcs may present heroes who succeed through group effort rather than lone rebellion.
No society is free of contradictions. The United States, though it prizes freedom, grapples with rising income inequality and heavy corporate influence. Japan, despite strong community values, contends with capitalist pressures that demand global competitiveness. Video games encapsulate these tensions, showing heroes operating in simplified worlds where regulations are minimal and the road from poverty to prosperity is relatively short. The complexities of the real economy, structural bias, and collective responsibility are generally left out, reinforcing an entertaining but selective image of how societies function.
Nevertheless, global game audiences absorb these visions and may even adopt them as personal ideals. Recognizing the underlying messages about power, resource acquisition, and social structures is essential for anyone seeking to understand the cultural role of video games. These messages shape beliefs about what freedom means, whether competition is inherently good, and how individuals fit into larger communities.
By exploring these dynamics, we can see that leisure activities, including gaming, are influenced by and can reinforce larger social and economic values. This perspective helps illustrate how media analysis is not restricted to literature, television, or film. Interactive digital worlds also convey powerful stories about who we are, how we relate to authority, and how we imagine success in an increasingly interconnected world.
Tags
Student Readings