Digital Odyssey: Navigating Cosmopolitanism amid State Intervention in the Consumption of Chinese Console Players

The global console game industry in China operates in a grey zone, with players adopting digital strategies to bypass state-imposed restrictions. Similarly, Jenkins'(2004) concept of "pop cosmopolitanism" suggests global popular culture drives consumers away from local culture, fostering an embrace of cosmopolitan identity, but it overlooks the role of state intervention. State intervention is a tangible method of defining market boundaries (Amengual&Bartley,2022), imposing dynamic structural elements on individuals' everyday consumption practices. It accommodates the practical turn in sociology, where practice theory views consumption as an active process involving both personal and institutional factors (Swidler,1986; Reckwitz,2002; Warde,2014).

This study treats both players and the state as actors. By clarifying console game consumption of Chinese players, it explores how state intervention shifts in this grey zone and how players balance cosmopolitan gaming identities with national identity in the face of state intervention.

It conducted in-depth interviews with 24 players and engaged in participant observation of digital intermediary platforms frequently mentioned, with the collection of Chinese policy documents.

It finds that this consumption is built on global information and economic networks, facilitated by players' strategic use of digital platforms. State interventions here primarily include internet firewalls, selective content censorship and public opinion control, with varying degrees of impact influenced by political and economic conditions.

Players create local communities centered around foreign console games, distinguishing their gaming practices from consumption. Although they recognize the challenges posed by state intervention, players do not regard their circumvention efforts as resistance. They perceive console games as an identity-free cultural sanctuary to rationalize their behavior, indicating that their cosmopolitanism coexists with national identity in different layers, challenging the binary opposition between global and local. Furthermore, players even support state intervention, as it aligns with their deeper sense of national identity. Thus, I term this phenomenon "limited cosmopolitanism."