Description
Warhammer 40,000 (WH:40k), Games Workshop's iconic tabletop wargame and transmedia universe, is set in a dystopian far-future Imperium of Man characterized by gothic authoritarianism, xenophobic zealotry, and unending holy war. This grimdark setting satirizes extremism while embedding "radical" philosophies to combat existential threats, often blurring lines between saviour and monster. WH40k is an example of a gaming environment that is misused and misinterpreted by specific groups of people to glorify violent or extremist actions.
Further, while a video game shooter is not in itself problematic, there are games that deal with highly problematic content: Examples include standalone games like "Fursan Al-Aqsa: The Knights of the Al-Aqsa Mosque" and “mods” for non-problematic games, which allow users to re-enact school shootings, terror attacks, or antisemitic actions. Additionally, memes (typically in the forms of images, videos or .gif files that spread quickly with slight variations) play a significant role in disseminating violent messages, with the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security identifying them as "online weapons" (2024).
The goal of this project is to investigate the potential for WH40k to be misused by radicals and extremists to spread violence and recruit new people. Aside from traditional sources this could also entail tapping into online discussion boards, doing interviews and analyzing memes on the subject.
There is the option to present research (if this is done together with a MSc thesis) at the Warhammer Conference (https://warhammer-conference.com – see also for sources and more information on the topic). Access to topic experts is given.
Information
If you are interested in this topic, please contact Iris van Sintemaartensdijk via i.vansintemaartensdijk@utwente.nl.
Literature
· Mcclain Brown, C. (2024). Towards a Generic Fascism: Right-Wing Totalitarian Aspects in the Universe of Warhammer 40,000. Politička misao: časopis za politologiju, 61(2), 29-51.
· Kowert, R., Lakhani, S., & Steinkuehler, C. (2025). Extremism in games. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1758296.
· Schönberg, F. S. (2024). The Worship of a Golden Chair: Patterns and Implications of Warhammer 40,000 References in Trumpist Propaganda. In Interrogating the Visual Culture of Trumpism (pp. 33-40). Routledge.
· Hodge, E., & Hallgrímsdóttir, H. K. (2021). Networks of hate: the alt-right,“troll culture”, and the cultural geography of social movement spaces online. In British Columbia’s Borders in Globalization (pp. 102-119). Routledge.
· Kupper, J., Bojsen-Møller, M., Christensen, T. K., Wing, D., Papadopulos, M., & Smith, S. (2024). Decoding terrorism: an interdisciplinary approach to a lone-actor case. Cambridge University Press.
· Zannettou, S., Caulfield, T., Blackburn, J., De Cristofaro, E., Sirivianos, M., Stringhini, G., & Suarez-Tangil, G. (2018, October). On the origins of memes by means of fringe web communities. In Proceedings of the internet measurement conference 2018 (pp. 188-202).
· Romero-Medina, P., & Vilasís-Pamos, J. (2024). Alt-right Shadows over Gaming and Masculinities: A Systematic Narrative Review. Review of Communication Research, 12, 154-167.
· Allchorn, W., & Orofino, E. (2025). Policing extremism on gaming-adjacent platforms: awful but lawful?. Frontiers in Psychology, 16, 1537460.
· Bhatt, S., & Mantua, J. (2023). The Transnational Threat of Radicalization Through the Use of Online Gaming Platforms. In Annals of Theoretical Psychology (pp. 113–131). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29807-3_6
· Robinson, N., & Whittaker, J. (2021). Playing for Hate? Extremism, Terrorism, and Videogames. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 1–36. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610x.2020.1866740