The Permissible Play Principle: how to ensure you are playing videogames permissibly

Sometimes actions that are (morally) impermissible in the actual world also seem impermissible in virtual worlds. For example, rape is impermissible in the actual world, and it also seems impermissible to direct a videogame character to rape another in a virtual world. But sometimes actions that are impermissible in the actual world seem permissible in virtual worlds. For example, stealing is impermissible in the actual world, but it may seem permissible to direct your video game character to steal another character’s possessions in a virtual world. This asymmetry has complicated the task of finding the line between permissible and impermissible gameplay. So, how should we play video games while this line remains unclear? Is there a way of playing games that ensures our actions are permissible? In this paper we consider a promising moral principle that might guarantee permissible gameplay.