Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Cross-cultural Communication of 'Chinese Imagery' in the Global Expansion of Chinese Video Games—A Case Study of Arknights: Endfield

Leyi Liu*
Zhejiang University

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

With the rise of global competition in cultural soft power and the widespread development of China's video game industry around the world, games have gradually become one of the main carriers for cross-cultural communication and the dissemination of Chinese culture abroad. Using Wuling City in Arknights: Endfield as a case study, this paper applies Hall's encoding/decoding framework and conducts textual analysis to examine how the game constructs 'contemporary Chinese imagery' and how overseas players receive it. The research shows that, through modern reinterpretation of Chinese-style architecture, the everyday display of contemporary public spaces, and governance-oriented coding of Chinese-style public slogans, the game has expanded the scope of Chinese imagery beyond traditional symbols to an urban area characterized by a sense of everyday life and modernisation. Overseas players' responses are representative-hegemonic, negotiated and oppositional readings. The above indicates that Chinese imagery in the world spread of Chinese video games has not been propagated unilaterally; instead, it has continuously accumulated new cross-cultural meanings through players' recognition, reconfiguration and contestation.

Keywords: Global expansion of Chinese video games; Chinese imagery; Arknights: Endfield; encoding/decoding; cross-cultural communication
Published: September 15, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.HT36695
Volume: CHR Vol.122
pp. 7-13
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