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"Gaming isn't art," says Spectator before editing "chill out" headline

British Conservative magazine The Spectator has edited a headline to a blog piece which challenged the notion that games are art, after telling supporters of the medium to "chill out".

The original headline of the article is, "Gaming isn’t art. And those who think it is need to chill out". The Spectator later changed it to, "What makes art art? And why gaming may not make the grade". The edit was made to "more accurately reflect the tenor of the piece," according to a note.

The piece itself is centred on a "hurried three-minute debate on Radio 4’s Today programme, which had invited art critic Sarah Kent and game developer Alex Evans to debate the merits of computer games," and that the Guardian critic involved, "failed to grasp is a fundamental thing about what we call art: that it’s not the medium of expression that makes something art, but the process of artistic production."

Have a read, anyway. The author notes in the comments that he didn't write the headline.

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Patrick Garratt avatar

Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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