A Moment in Digital Time : Pause During Performative Gameplay

Abstract

In digital culture, the pause in video games has evolved from a mere functional interruption into a complex act of temporal resistance. Far from being a mechanical convenience, it serves as a cognitive necessity and a performative tool that shapes player experience, narrative pacing, and audience engagement. Drawing from the traditions of theatre, music, and dance — where silence and stillness function as punctuation that lends depth and nuance — the video game pause emerges as a site of agency within the accelerated temporality of contemporary media.

As Schmalzer observes, pause menus “reveal computational modes of time and space that are always present in all aspects of videogame play” (2020, p. 2). In an era when Twitch viewership exceeded 20 billion hours and global gaming revenue reached $187.7 billion in 2024; the cultural and performative dimensions of pausing have never been more significant. This paper explores the pause as cognitive sanctuary, dramaturgical device, technical affordance, and philosophical gesture of resistance.