Free to Play: A Video Games Anthology

Building on video game culture, experimentation, and play,
Difference Engine brings a new collection of stories in Free to Play: A Video
Games Anthology.

When conceptualising the anthology, we wanted to celebrate
and explore the impact of video games on traditional narrative forms of prose,
comics, poetry, and visual art. In doing so, we have diversified in the range
of works published in this anthology – from fiction to non-fiction comics to
written pieces and multimedia works, Free to Play explores the relationship
between video games and storytelling from all angles.

The pieces in the anthology draw inspiration from many video games throughout our long history with the medium, such as Animal Crossing, Fortnite, God of War, Pokémon, Skyrim, Super Mario Bros, and World of Warcraft to name a few.

Free to Play is also our first anthology that invited
submissions from international creators beyond the Southeast Asian region. In a
tough selection process over 180 submissions, our four-person editorial team —
Natalie Wang, Adan Jimenez, Joses Ho, and Daryl Lim Wei Jie — have curated a
collection of pieces to both be a love letter and a challenge to what video
games and gaming culture are and can be.