wouldn't say they have to be as escapist as the the forces acting on culture in this capitalist moment make them, but from the perspective of Becker's The Denial of Death and terror management theory they're part of a larger cultural attempt to distract ourselves from our own mortality that will remain even if we achieve socialism. the initial reaction might be "well then escapism is a meaningless term" but what would be a narrower definition of escapism that excludes say, reading fiction books but still includes video games.

it's all a matter of degrees, I suppose. they'd likely become less escapist and more artistic, connective experiences like jabrd and kristina said