{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,4]],"date-time":"2026-06-04T23:59:05Z","timestamp":1780617545794,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,4]],"date-time":"2022-08-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1659571200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Games and Culture"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This article proposes a new framework for analysing how developers structure \u2013 and players experience \u2013 history and heritage in historical video games. Drawing on the theory of mashups, this article demonstrates how historical games generate \u2018technocultural mashups\u2019 by cutting and pasting aspects of cultural heritage into the gameplay experience and then challenging players to further adapt this. \u2018Technocultural mashups\u2019, the article suggests, exploit a cultural precedent in the recombination of art, music and video, but also a Web 2.0 precedent that enables alternative modes of production, communication and consumption based on the affordances of new media. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is used as a case study to better understand the relationship between game design and the simulation of cultural heritage. By looking at fan-made trailers, as well as gameplay, paratexts and player-generated content, this article explores how \u2018technocultural mashups\u2019 enable players to participate in a networked historical imaginary.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/15554120221115403","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,5]],"date-time":"2022-08-05T02:55:35Z","timestamp":1659668135000},"page":"915-928","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":17,"title":["Mashing Up History and Heritage in Assassin\u2019s Creed Odyssey"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4140-6539","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Richard","family":"Cole","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Classics and Ancient History, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Assassin\u2019s Creed Odyssey. (2018). Video game. Ubisoft Quebec."},{"key":"bibr2-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Ubisoft. (2019, October 29).\n                      Assassin\u2019s Creed Odyssey \u2013 1 year in review\n                      . Ubisoft. https:\/\/www.ubisoft.com\/en-us\/game\/assassins-creed\/odyssey\/news-updates\/1bkA7RV3MPe63RhjNmrkQD\/assassins-creed-odyssey-1-year-in-review."},{"key":"bibr3-15554120221115403","volume-title":"Simulacra and simulation","author":"Baudrillard J.","year":"1994"},{"key":"bibr4-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Beavers S. (2020).\n                      The informal learning of history with digital games\n                      [PhD thesis, The Open University]. Open Research Online - ORO. https:\/\/oro.open.ac.uk\/69919\/."},{"key":"bibr5-15554120221115403","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.7551\/mitpress\/5334.001.0001"},{"key":"bibr6-15554120221115403","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3983\/twc.2012.0297"},{"key":"bibr7-15554120221115403","volume-title":"The future of nostalgia","author":"Boym S.","year":"2001"},{"issue":"5","key":"bibr8-15554120221115403","first-page":"118","volume":"26","author":"Broida R.","year":"2008","journal-title":"PC World"},{"key":"bibr9-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Brouwers J. (2018, December 4).\n                      Assassin\u2019s Creed: Odyssey, a look at the loading screen hints\n                      . Josho Brouwers. https:\/\/www.joshobrouwers.com\/articles\/assassins-creed-odyssey-look-loading-screen-hints\/?msclkid=bc1af025b40111ec9f1ff560afaf1770."},{"key":"bibr10-15554120221115403","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-7091-0096-7_2"},{"key":"bibr11-15554120221115403","volume-title":"Invisible cities","author":"Calvino I.","year":"1997"},{"key":"bibr12-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Cameron H. [@peregrinekiwi]. (2018, November 10). There\u2019s a lot of this throughout the game world. The ruins of the past litter the game\u2019s present, a present that is most commonly encountered in our world as a ruined past. #ACademicOdyssey #HistoriesAllTheWayDown. Twitter. https:\/\/twitter.com\/peregrinekiwi\/status\/1061054617038082048."},{"key":"bibr13-15554120221115403","volume-title":"Thermopylae","author":"Cartledge P.","year":"2006"},{"key":"bibr14-15554120221115403","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4324\/9781315732060"},{"key":"bibr15-15554120221115403","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350157224"},{"key":"bibr16-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Clark S. (2018, November 28).\n                      Why homer would approve of Assassin\u2019s Creed Odyssey\n                      . Eurogamer. https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/why-homer-would-approve-of-assassins-creed-odyssey"},{"key":"bibr17-15554120221115403","first-page":"53","volume-title":"The oxford handbook of new audiovisual aesthetics","author":"Cook N.","year":"2013"},{"key":"bibr18-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Fandom Games. (2018).\n                      ASSASSIN\u2019S CREED ODYSSEY (Honest Game Trailers)\n                      [Video]. YouTube. https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S8xcyx8vmYY"},{"key":"bibr19-15554120221115403","author":"Garst A.","journal-title":"PCGames"},{"key":"bibr20-15554120221115403","unstructured":"Scott, R. (2000).\n                      Gladiator\n                      [Film]. Universal."},{"key":"bibr21-15554120221115403","volume-title":"The invention of prose","author":"Goldhill S.","year":"2002"},{"key":"bibr22-15554120221115403","volume-title":"Remaking history","author":"Groot J.","year":"2016"},{"key":"bibr23-15554120221115403","first-page":"42","volume-title":"Transgression 2.0","author":"Gunkel D. 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