Video games, but for everyone. The philosophy of Warpa area – “itinerant and rebellious” video game party which will soon stop in Rome (10-11 May, Forte Prenestino), L’Aquila (13-14-15 May, Case Matte) and Bari (17-18 May, Bread&Roses) – it can be summed up like this. The event is aimed at fans of the gaming world, but also at professionalsbecause it offers both meetings and talks, both workshops (even for absolute beginners), and exhibition spaces intended for independent studios and entities. All strictly free. «This too is accessibility», explains the musician and «cultural agitator» Fabio “Kenobit” Bortolotti, one of the members of the promoting collective, Warpo. «For us, holding an inclusive event also means thinking about the economic aspect. The price of a day ticket for Games Week, for example, is 23 euros, to which we must also add, for those who are not from Milan, the costs of a trip to the most expensive city in Italy. And for those who want to display their video game, a meter of table has costs that are unaffordable for those without large financing. But there are both bestsellers and niche books, right? The same goes for video games and rightly so.”
The economic question for the Warpo Collective it is anything but negligible, also and above all when thinking about the future. «We think of video games as a tool to unite, but also to talk about collective battles. Spreading the knowledge to do this is crucial. This is why we are going in the opposite direction compared to the world of videogame training in Italy.” Bortolotti gives a very concrete example: «A little girl who dreams of developing video games can only aspire to private schools that have annual fees of thousands of euros: anyone who does not come from a situation of economic comfort cannot enter. Instead, we also want to welcome those who don’t have the luxury of spending a lot.”
A traveling party, to disseminate knowledge
Still on the subject of accessibility and inclusion, the organizers of Zona Warpa insist: «Zona warpa is a party, not an event. And it’s “itinerant”, we also included it in our claim.” «We don’t want there to be an economic barrier to knowledge related to video games», explains Kenobit, «that’s why we want to disseminate it as much as possible, everywhere». Even in cities that are not included in the classic circuits of videogame events. «Why does someone who lives in Bari or L’Aquila and is interested in video games necessarily have to go to Milan? Do we want to send the message that the only place to make video games in Italy is Milan? This centralization is bad for everyone.”
The cultural and social objective, not commercial
«Of course», recognizes Bortolotti, «if you want to do big numbers, you know from the start that you will only do them in Milan. But we don’t aim for numbers or profit. We already know that we will have fewer people in some cities and more in others, but we’re fine with that.” The objective, he continues, is not commercial, but cultural and social: «We are rewarded in people: every time we have one of our parties – Zona Warpa was born in 2023 and has already touched cities such as Genoa, Siena and Montelupo Fiorentino, ed. – we meet new ones, including some who want to be involved, in the most disparate ways. We work to create a horizontal and supportive network that can grow the alternative dimension of video games. A dimension in which it is possible to say: “Do you have an idea for a video game? Here are the tools, here are the people who can help you.” Because for us video gaming is an art that gives powerful ways to communicate what we care about. We aim to create sociality to ensure that all those who love it and want to try their hand at it have the opportunity to do soregardless of economic availability and without necessarily having to do everything ourselves.”
The dialogue with philosophy, music, art
Always in dialogue with other arts. As, after all, it is inevitable. «Various forms of art always converge in videogames: writing, music, graphic art…», reflects Bortolotti. Among the guests of Zona Warpa, he explains, there are also cartoonists; and scheduled – can be consulted on zonawarpa.it – there is no shortage of concerts and events dedicated to philosophy and art. «It’s almost inevitable, given that we treat video games as one of the arts that populate the Italian underground. Often, we know, it is offered in purity, so to speak. But we consider it as a meeting point of many different ways of expressing ourselves and we like to underline that it is part of a scene, of a feeling that exists, even if perhaps it is little told and little known.”
Gaming culture as a collective good (and not as a product)
A collective feeling, of course. It is no coincidence that Kenobit always speaks in the plural. «In addition to me, in the Warpo Collective there are also Riccardo “Rico” Gamondi of the musical duo Uochi Toki, Claudia Molinari of the independent studio We Are Muesli, the writer and journalist Matteo Lupetti and many other people who are more or less active depending on the moment» . The working group, he explains, is dynamic and elastic: «It expands and always welcomes people, each with different skills: it is not an ego job, but a collective effort». The result – that is, the program and the manifesto of Zona Warpa – fully restore the spirit of this magmatic and composite reality, crossed by a palpable enthusiasm and a militant yet joyful spirit. «Those who come to our parties», concludes Kenobit, «will discover surprising things, perhaps little known, which however all belong to the same dimension». The one indicated by the Zona Warpa manifesto: gaming culture as a collective good, and not as a product.
