Planetdeath Disease: The Anthropocene in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Disco Elysium

How do games articulate discourses of climate crisis? The article compares a particular discourse of climate change—the Anthropocene—in two digital games: the 4X strategy game Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) and the computer roleplaying game Disco Elysium (2019). Comparing two games separated by decades, production context, and genre reveals productive differences and similarities in the representation of the Anthropocene. The article presents an overview of the Anthropocene discourse from its origins to its relationship to complementary and competing concepts such as the noosphere and Capitalocene. The fictionalized Anthropocene(s) presented in Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri and Disco Elysium are then read for their resonance with these real-world visions of the Anthropocene. The article demonstrates complications to the tendency of various digital game genres to articulate specific discourses of the Anthropocene, ranging from games’ narrative genres and the broader political currents during game production.