Medieval video games as reenactment of the past: A look at Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its historical claim
Résumé
While historians and archaeologists sometimes focus on the potential of historical reenactment as a tool to represent material culture and various historical contents, historical video games, especially those associated with the medieval period, are still exclusively regarded as a recreational staging of the past. However, if numerous licenses are directly inspired by the Heroic Fantasy genre and by medievalism, emerging productions such as Kingdom Come: Deliverance attempt to provide gaming experience relying on historical accuracy. Through the digital re-creation of material and gesture, we will ask ourselves if medieval video games can be seen as a genuine reenactment of the past.