Kerr, Aphra (2023) Economy. In: The Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies. Routledge, New York. ISBN 10 1032081236

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Abstract

This essay examines the formal and informal economies of video games and attends to the economies within video games. The first part introduces key approaches in the early 2000s when games were primarily sold as a product through retail shops. We then move to the post-2012 phase as games became a service that was downloaded or streamed across multiple platforms. This era ushered in a period of rapid innovation in production logics, business models, and company types. It brought with it a range of creative opportunities and challenges. New platform and performance logics emerged, while free-to-play became the dominant revenue model. Two key processes emerge as important – datafication and platformization. During this period, the industry struggled to retain workers as many companies failed to address project management and diversity issues. Independent, or indie, companies multiplied by choice and necessity. The essay concludes with some reflections on e-sports, gamblification and increasing regulatory pressures

Item Type:	Book Section
Keywords:	economy; video games;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Item ID:	17419
Depositing User:	Prof. Aphra Kerr
Date Deposited:	19 Jul 2023 09:28
Publisher:	Routledge
Refereed:	Yes
URI:
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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