Games and the “science of Galton”: references to eugenics in the video game Red Dead Redemption 2

Abstract

The article analyzes how the electronic game Red Dead Redemption 2, published in 2018 by the producer Rockstar Games, addresses the theme of eugenics in the narrative of the historical context of the American old west, where the game was set. For that, elements in game were extracted and compared with the discourse of the current historiography on eugenics in Brazil and in the world. Through a methodology based on the studies of electronic games and eugenics, it was observed to what extent RDR 2 was faithful to the historical and historiographic discussion of eugenics; representations about eugenics, moral issues related to eugenics and genetics, and, finally, how the player can understand the concept and historical context of eugenics between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th in the United States and Brazil.