The territoriality of teams: Assembling power through the playing of Pokémon Go

Abstract

This paper explores how the playing of Pokémon Go can cause power to be assembled, and team-based expressions of territoriality to manifest. By playing the game, players become embedded within digital assemblages of power, which they reproduce through their interactions with other players, game features, and public spaces. When digital assets—such as gyms—are indexed to public spaces, players work together in teams to compete for digital ownership, and control, of these assets. In turn, this leads to the forging of a team-based sense of territoriality that is pervasive, and maximized by consolidating the power of the assemblage. Qualitative data are presented to empirically explore how playing Pokémon Go in Singapore can encourage players to forge a team-based sense of territoriality, which in turn results in the (dis)assembling of power. To conclude, I call for closer consideration of the implications of digital assemblages of power for everyday life.