This article introduces video game ethics as an emergent field. It then focuses on some of the pressing issues distinctive of video game design, issues which arise predominantly from the making rather than the playing of games. Many issues in video game ethics arise from an asymmetry in the relationship between designer and player. To play a game is to place oneself in a position of dependence on the designer. The designer shapes the player's experience. They structure the physical environment and how the player perceives and moves through it. They invite players to inhabit new roles and care about new goals and outcomes. Players thereby voluntarily enter into situations organized by such design choices. This dependence is part of what makes games so compelling, even valuable, especially when they are used to challenge, confront, or invite reflection, but it can also create vulnerabilities that can be exploited. This article examines three such vulnerabilities generated by game design: exploitative monetization practices rooted in economic and structural features of gameplay, gambling‐like reward systems such as loot boxes and the legal and moral concerns they raise, and socially manipulative design patterns that capitalize on player attachment and loyalty.
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