ABSTRACT
Structuralists believe that, through language, people construct themselves and the world they live in. Contradictions are inherent in the structures surrounding videogames as a medium. This chapter examines how to apply both a structuralist and post-structural lens to games and what each approach is able to reveal. With the release of several varied approaches to battle royale games, the other conventions of the genre have become clearer; common conventions include large map sizes and player numbers, shrinking play space, limited starting equipment, and caches or chests. The sprawling, malleable environment of Fortnite's map maintains its general geographical structure but introduces changes between each of the games 'seasons', which is considered one of the reasons this game has maintained popularity for so long. Both structuralism and post-structuralism allow an audience to analyze games in terms of rules-both those that the text follows and those it breaks.
