Is "performative gaming" really a thing?

Why I'm sick of the word "performative"

The word “performative” took the internet by its throat last year, the usage of it still bleeding into the vernacular of the public as 2026 came around. I’ll admit I had my fun with it. It’s fun to poke at “performative males” a bit, until I realized people were taking it too seriously. A page was created that took pictures of real men on subways reading, making fun of them, and that’s when I realized this was too much.

The word began popping up everywhere. Everything started to become a performance. There were performative readers and performative artists. “This is so performative” became a staple in the comment section. This article was triggered by me seeing a Nintendo DS Instagram reel¹, decorated with cute stickers², with the words performative gaming slapped onto it.

What does that even mean?

From what I’ve seen, being a performative gamer is showing off your retro consoles, or maybe modern emulators, on social media. Bonus points if your console looks super cute and is decorated with tons of stickers. Maybe you even show off the title screen of the console or the game you’re playing. Overall, it’s to show off the aesthetic.

“performative gamer” style photo pulled from my Instagram, 2022

A video I watched mentioned the same thing. The creator mentioned their frustrations about the latest trend of younger people showing off older consoles and as a result making them trendy. They said that these people don’t even actually play these games. That it’s so obvious that they don’t when you talk to them.

I’ll admit, I don’t talk to every young person I see posting their consoles on TikTok or Instagram, but I have a hard time believing that a majority don’t play games. I’m also too busy playing my own to wonder if every post I see is from a credible gamer. Plus, I’ve always hated the opinion that certain games make you a true gamer.

Now, I have to wonder if I play my 3DS or Vita in public, or if I post a photo of them on my socials, will I be accused of being a performative gamer? How do you even prove that to someone besides becoming a streamer or posting achievements as proof.

Should I even care that much?

I feel like many aspects of life are a performance. Me typing out this Substack for my subscribers, is a performance. It is me presenting an edited version of my thoughts. I will perform differently for different people. My private Instagram shows a version of myself that this Substack doesn’t see, and vice versa. When I work, I play the corporate role. It’s very rare that I’ve seen someone be their true authentic self all the time no matter who they’re with. Each aspect of me is part of who I am, though some feel more true to myself than others.

Also, even if it’s a performance, I don’t necessarily believe that it’s a bad thing.

When I was younger, I wanted to be like Anna Akana so badly. I eagerly awaited her videos every week. If she released an interview I’d watch it. I’d try to emulate her routine and stole her format for New Year’s resolutions. Her interests became my interests. My thought process was if I could perform the parts I admired the most about her, I could get rid of the things I didn’t like about myself.

This video altered my brain forever

Sadly, I didn’t only take on interests because I admired someone, I also tried new things because I had crushes. When I found out the boys I liked were into certain games, I’ll admit I started playing more of them. What’s worse, I wasn’t even performing well, I barely told them I played any games until they asked. It was a performance for myself, which is so embarrassing looking back. When I think of my younger self, I don’t see a female manipulator, I just see a young misguided girl who wanted to connect with people and feel good about herself.

As I aged, I was interested in many aesthetics that people performed on the internet. I’ve been on the internet through many aesthetics/subcultures. I’m always a gamer girl, but there was a time I wanted to explore scene fashion. Then after scene I wanted to explore “swagapino” fashion. Dark academia intrigued me, but I also wanted to be an alt girl. I took many pieces of these and tried to perform the parts, until, I figured out what I liked.

Every single piece of these different influences that I tried to emulate have influenced the person I’ve become today. Even now, I’m intrigued by the different ways people present themselves on the internet and the parts they like to perform.

There are aspects of the performance that are negative. If you lie about things to connect with other people you’ll never actually connect with anyone. If the performance is mentally draining for you it can become unhealthy. This is especially true if you’re performing a certain way because you don’t like yourself. The performance isn’t forever, eventually you’ll need to confront yourself on what you truly want. I just think people apply this word to things too broadly, which is common on the internet.

People want to present themselves in certain ways because it makes them feel good. The fact that people have started to accuse anything as performative is to the detriment of everyone. I think it’s why people are so obsessed with things being authentic now. But if you’re trying to act authentic all the time, especially on social media, isn’t that a performance too? Social media has many negative aspects. There are clout chasers, grifters, and mean-spirited people. But, there are so many people who just want to show off something they love or something they are exploring.

So what if people want to show off their retro consoles? The 3DS is cute and deserves to be shown off. So what if people want to put cute stickers on their PS Vita, and take grainy low-quality photos. It’s not our business to criticize such harmless behavior. I think it’s a good thing that people want to explore older consoles. I’d like to think if they’re spending that much money, they’re actually trying a game or two. Some of these people are also just unearthing consoles they haven’t touched in a long time.

As someone who loves older consoles, I’m happy that people are getting into the hobby³. It sucks that the trends are making stuff expensive, but it can only last so long. Everything we show off on social media or the way we act in real life can be considered a performance. There will always be people to accuse of stealing a hobby. There will always be people who are actually lying. I don’t think it’s productive to accuse everyone who wants to present their hobby a certain way as performative.

So, should I even care? No, and I think that no one should. Don’t ever worry about some random person on the internet calling you performative. Post your little photos of your cute retro console. Don’t even play it for all I care. I think the more we perform the more we’ll realize what’s real to us anyway.

1. For the sake of transparency, I didn’t watch this reel so I don’t know what their take was, I just saw the thumbnail and rolled my eyes a little.

2. I do want to ponder if there’s a layer of misogyny to this but I didn’t want it to be a passing statement. A majority of accounts that I personally follow that post cute photos of their consoles are woman, but I know the retro gaming scene is much bigger than that. Retro gaming consoles are a staple in every day carry videos right now which has an equal mix of men and women. I’ve also seen some male tech YouTubers showcasing retro consoles more. It’s just when I hear criticism of what makes a true gamer, I can’t help but think of the constant accusation that always get thrown at woman.

3. There is always criticism to be made with overconsumption in hobbies. But, like with performative I think people are throwing around the word too much.