Supporting data for "When Fantasy and Reality Collide: Anime-Style Mobile Games and Online Player Activisms in China"

This study investigates why and how players in China’s anime-style mobile gaming communities transform in-game grievances into cross-platform sociopolitical protests that command corporate concessions and national attention. Employing a multi-method qualitative approach combining online ethnography, in-depth interviews, and game analysis, the research centers on players’ subjective interpretations of their gaming practices, communal interactions, and activist engagements. The findings reveal a recursive mediation process through which grievances escalate into cross-platform contention, driven by three interconnected dynamics.