Writing & StyleStyle guide

Are Video Game Titles Italicized?

The Chicago Manual of Style explicitly says video-game titles are italicized, including individual games and names of game series. Other publications can set their own house style, so the recommendation is style-scoped.

Quick answer

In Chicago style, italicize video-game titles.

Key details

Core Issuehow to style the title of a video game in prose
Registeracademic, edited, and style-governed writing
RuleChicago 18 explicitly styles the title of a video game in italics, whether referring to an individual game or a game series name.

Important caveats

Scope Boundary

This is Chicago-style guidance rather than a universal grammar rule. Follow another required style guide or house style if it specifies different treatment.

Further guidance

Recommendation

Italicize video-game titles when following Chicago style.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. Video-game title styling — Chicago Manual of Style Q&A (opens in a new tab)The University of Chicago Press · Chicago 18 guidance explicitly stating that video-game titles, including individual games and series names, are italicized.

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Are YouTube Video Titles Italicized?

MLA styles an independent online video in italics even when it is hosted on a sharing site such as YouTube. The work’s genre and independence still matter: music videos and television episodes are examples of shorter contained works that MLA styles in quotation marks.

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