How will I get across town to work? What are my plans for the evening? How will I get in touch with my friends? These everyday questions, reveal the unspectacular but ever-present aspects of our daily lives, that are undergoing rapid transformation with the emergence of new technologies, economies and forms of social organisation. Video games help us to speculate on what a regular day might look in the future. Although most video games typically don't place these life simulating elements at the forefront, many incorporate them to establish a coherent and believable future world.
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    Getting around

    Flying cars are a familiar Sci-Fi trope and in Cloudpunk the main character, Rania, uses one in her daily work as a delivery driver. At ground-level, in games like Cyberpunk 2077, characters can still take time out from their quests to take a walk around town, using LED embedded crosswalks to cross the street safely.

    Employment

    There are some new professions that one can explore in the future. Looking at futuristic action games, like the Halo series or Ghostrunner, you might think that soldier is the only profession of the future, but games also explore other career paths. In Space Engineer players construct space stations and in Slime Rancher they farm alien species on far away planets.

    Communication & advertisment

    Video games point towards a future where conventional communication and marketing methods are augmented or replaced by advanced technological interfaces.

    Anno 2070 showcases holographic beamers, while characters in Cyberpunk 2077 communicate almost telepathically with implanted chips. In ANNO: Mutationem towering holograms are used for advertising, while shoppers can view clothes modelled by a holographic representation of themselves.

    Social relations

    Video games also challenge our received social norms with alternative realities. In the world of Cyberpunk, romance and sexuality are marked by an atmosphere of openness and gender distinctions are fluid. In a radically different vision of the future, Post-apocalyptic games like The Last of Us and Horizon: Zero Dawn depict humanity's return to living in small tightly organised groups, fighting for survival and resources.
     
    Game developers often anchor virtual characters in familiar, albeit radically transformed, routines, where the banal choices of what to wear or eat add to player immersion and a sense of realism. The resulting virtual representations of everyday life serve as a foundation for envisioning future scenarios, prompting us to weigh up the implications, challenges, and opportunities that may arise as we continue to evolve and push the boundaries of technological advancement.