Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Playing the Myth: How Gamified Digital Fashion Turns Luxury Brands into Cultural Symbols

Junxin HuangRoyal College of Art*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Why do luxury houses, whose value depends on keeping people out, keep building games that let everyone in? This paper looks at a decade of fashion brands entering game and virtual worlds, from Burberry's casual mini-games to a Gucci handbag on Roblox that briefly cost more than the real one. Consumer research on digital fashion explains why players want virtual garments, but says little about what brands gain. This paper takes the brand side. Reading well-documented cases through self-determination theory, cultural branding, and the circuit of culture, we argue that the strongest brands are doing more than advertising: they are turning their emblems into cultural symbols. The conversion runs through four cumulative levels, from attention and experience to ritual and owned assets, each deepening psychological need satisfaction rather than mere exposure, and it stalls when a brand misreads the host culture, as the controversies that engulfed two Honor of Kings collaborations show. The framework explains why mechanically sound launches can still fail without cultural fit, and offers brands a staged model for earning symbolic value in game worlds.

Keywords: digital fashion; gamification; luxury branding; cultural branding; self-determination theory
Published: September 8, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.36515
Volume: CHR Vol.117
pp. 88-93
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