Book

Video games are no longer a marginal form of entertainment or a subcultural curiosity. They have become persistent social environments where identities are formed, skills are trained, informal leadership emerges, and dynamics of influence take shape. This book argues that the gaming world must be understood as an emerging strategic space: a social architecture where power, culture, communication, and intelligence intersect in increasingly complex ways. Far from alarmist or moralizing approaches, the analysis adopts a sober and rigorous perspective, integrating cultural studies, digital communication, and strategic intelligence frameworks. Through the examination of gaming communities, content creators, virtual economies, competitive ecosystems, and platform dynamics, the book explores how contemporary influence operates less through explicit messages and more through shared experiences, belonging, and symbolic legitimacy. The gaming environment appears not as a threat in itself, but as a field of observation, learning, and potential instrumentalization by state and non-state actors. This revised and expanded edition deepens the original thesis, incorporating the concept of cognitive sovereignty and addressing the ethical limits of observation, recruitment, and influence in highly relational digital environments. The Gaming World as an Emerging Strategic Space is aimed at academics, analysts, decision-makers, and readers interested in understanding how culture, power, and security are being reconfigured in the digital age. Understanding gaming today is not a matter of curiosity—it is a strategic necessity.