George Bataille's (1975) perspective on economic structure used the conception of the gift developed by Mauss in order to support his affirmation of the possibility of human sovereignity within economic systems. For Bataille play was one of the frameworks that fosters a type of sacrifice that resembles a gift. In this regard Bataille differs essentially from how Adorno and Benjamin thought about gaming: For Adorno the “repetitiveness of gaming” is nothing but “an after-image of involuntary servitude” (Adorno 1970) and for Benjamin the gamer’s actions resemble those of the proletarian worker as they perform what is derived of all meaning: “drudgery of play” (Benjamin 1939).

Gamification as the process of turning extra-ludic activities into play can be seen in two different ways: Following Bataille we would hope that play could be an escape mechanism from the drudgery of work. Following Adorno and Benjamin, however, we might discover that the escape from the drudgery of work leads to an equally alienating drudgery of play.