Urban Social Future Imaginaries in Detroit: Become Human (2018)

This research dealt with the urban social future imaginaries of the simulated Detroit from the year 2038 found within the video game “Detroit: Become Human” (2018), abbreviated as DBH. The aim of the research was to analyze the ways in which the simulated future version of Detroit in DBH mirrors or defies the urban social traits, issues, conflicts, and future plans of the ‘real’ contemporary Detroit, which struggles with socio-economic decline, poor living conditions, and racial injustices. Hence the main research question was “How does Detroit: Become Human depict future imaginaries of Detroit’s urban social environment and its Android citizens?” Racial differentiation based on skin color amongst humans has been replaced by the human versus android/deviant dichotomy in DBH, hence the issue of race focused on the androids in the game. The research question could be divided into the matter of racial discrimination and futuristic or realistic potential city identities. The concepts of the urban social from urban sociology, social dominance and social status in video games, urban/street games, sci-fi hierarchies in visual media, environmental storytelling, and race/racism in video games provided the theoretical foundation. The method of research was qualitative, intending to analyze how the individual citizen experiences the urban and social dimensions within the urban environment of DBH’s Detroit. The close-reading technique ensured an in-depth reading of the media text, in this case the video game DBH. In the manner of purposeful sampling, the video game DBH served as the primary source of data collection, with additional sources from the extras section in the menu or other behind-the-scenes footage being added through theoretical sampling. The recorded data derived from two separate playthroughs of the entire game on the PlayStation 4, in order to collect as much data about both the violent and peaceful paths of the android rebellion, as well as the machine or deviant paths. In the data-making process, the recorded data was structured based on the 32 chapters of the game, whereby each play session encompassed the play of full chapters, each session lasting around 25-55 minutes, after which it was saved and transferred unto an USB-Stick. All the collected data was analyzed from the perspective of multimodal critical discourse analysis, assessing the primary social and power dynamics within the game. The main findings showed that the urban social environment in DBH’s Detroit is characterized by segregation, slavery, genocide; objectification and (sexual) liberation; abuse, crime, junk – Ghetto Detroit; Sci-Fi Metropolis – Dream city versus Dystopia. Despite the player’s ability to make different choices within the game, the overall city identity remained the same, combining both a ‘dreamy’ fulfillment of current ‘real’ Detroit’s plans and an overall liberalized society with its persistent social issues of racial discrimination and urban/ghetto living conditions. It emerged that the concept of “future imaginaries” in video games does not merely signify potentials. Future imaginaries also display future projections of realistic contemporary concerns that must be solved by the individual/player in the near future, thereby creating interactive tales of caution and inspiration.