The Great Exhibition of 1851 affected and consolidated a cultural shift: the so-called decorative arts were now given the grand stage. Decorative arts – anything from furniture, to ceramics and wallpaper – were then sharing a stage with the traditional high arts of painting, sculpture and architecture. In its wake Owen Jones would publish the seminal Grammar of Ornament (1856). Of similar crucial importance was the imminent opening of the South Kensington Museum – later the Victoria and Albert – the world’s first and largest museum of decorative arts.
What does all this have to do with Playcon 2025, the 5th edition of which took place at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali earlier this month?
We are living in a similar paradigm shift. The 21st century, like the mid-19th, has seen the institutionalising of a new form of art: video games.
Playcon, running for its fifth year in Malta, is a worldwide event that attracts huge crowds and audiences. Video games are no longer a niche interest. Growing up in the ’90s playing video games was a solitary experience, or at most we could play ‘two-player’ with school friends. It was largely reserved for secondary school boys. The same boys who watched Dragon Ball and Holy e Benji after school. Not anymore.
Esports, the most lucrative manifestation of the industry, has grown exponentially: by 2020 it was estimated that esport audiences would grow to over 450 million and that it would produce revenue of over US$1 billion. At Playcon 2025 this was well-represented: a huge stage was set for professional gaming teams to battle it out over Rocket League and the sensation was like being in a crowded football stadium – in fact, arguably, there was a stronger, rowdier crowd here than your average Malta Premier League match down the road in the Millenium Stadium!
But this is more than just the coldness of numbers. It is new art history. Events like Playcon help anchor video games not just as a capital powerhouse but as an art form in itself. In 2013 the institutionalisation of video games as an art form took a large step forward when The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York held a landmark exhibition called: Never Alone: Video Games and Other Interactive Design. MoMA acquired the rights to 14 games for this exhibition, launching a new category in their vast catalogue.
Video game directors like Hideo Kojima (developer of the Metal Gear and Death Stranding series) tour the world for interviews and sold-out arenas. Kojima’s status has enshrined his opinion in popular culture and his views on films in particular has become as valued as reviews from the Hollywood Reporter. Incidentally, Kojima does not think video games are an art form for they are something else something too popular as opposed to the intimate intentions of art.
It is not simply video game production that is considered an art form, but video games have become seen as a filter, a mediator of other, more classical forms of art. Classical music is high on this list. Classic fm frequently includes video game music composers on its list of greatest contemporary composers. Video game scores are seen as a means of keeping classical music contemporary and open it to broader audiences. Moreover, orchestral concerts of exclusively video game scores are happening everywhere, consistently, and they are always sold out. Video game direction is also reaching elevated levels, with video game directors accruing the renown of Hollywood counterparts and collaborations with authors and artists are becoming increasingly common (think of George R. Martin’s influence on the best-selling Elden Ring).
Malta, as part of the British Empire, had a stall in the Great Exhibition of 1851 too. As part of the British Empire the institutionalisation of the decorative arts kicked into gear here at the same time as it did in Britain. Today, Malta is likewise not lagging behind in the institutionalisation of video games. Playcon 2025 was a showcase for this. Just as the Great Exhibition was the brainchild of Henry Cole and the husband of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, so this Playcon served as a reflection of the Maltese government’s investment in the industry.
The launch included a speech by Minister of Economy, Silvio Schembri, who announced that two professional gaming studios, Feenix and Hand Rock Studio, would be setting up studios in Malta this year. As Schembri said, ‘Playcon showcases a vibrant industry and is also a platform for collaboration in this sector.’ A significant government delegation, including Prime Minister Robert Abela, visited the event, highlighting the institutional backing for this once-discarded industry.
This is an industry which is transforming into an art form before our very eyes, just as the decorative arts rose to the status of a dignified art form in the 19th century.