Pioneras

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-197
Author(s):  
Phillip Penix-Tadsen
Keyword(s):  
Production Condition ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
South American ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Game Developers

This oral and written history examines three generations of pioneering women game developers from Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile—the South American region known as the Southern Cone. Each of the individuals interviewed—Marcela Nievas, Sofía Battegazzore, Maureen Berho, and Martina Santoro—offers insight on female leadership over three generations of precipitous growth in regional game development. Together, their personal and professional trajectories demonstrate how the embodied and material conditions of game production condition diverse histories of game development, challenging universalizing myths of a global game industry in which “anybody can make games.” At the same time, these four developers' histories working outside the conventional centers of the global game industry reflect the transformative role of women developers and game designers across the Global South in shaping three generations of global game culture.

How to Study Game Publishers: Activision Blizzard’s Corporate History

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Nieborg
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Corporate History ◽  
Digital Entertainment ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Political Economic

There is little disagreement among game scholars about the important, if not crucial role of game publishers in the wider game industry. Yet, there is surprisingly little literature on the role of individual game publishers, let alone their publishing strategies. Drawing on critical political economic theory, document analysis is conducted on financial statements of global game publisher Activision Blizzard. Its 2010 publishing deal with game studio Bungie and the 2015 acquisition of King Digital Entertainment serve as case studies to analyse game publishers’ role in the formatting of cultural commodities and the subsequent rationalization of game production. Despite the increased accessibility of game development and distribution platforms, publishing power is still a significant institutional force to be reckoned with.

scholarly journals Business Intelligence Challenges for Independent Game Publishing

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Yanhui Su ◽  
Per Backlund ◽  
Henrik Engström
Keyword(s):  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Systematic Research ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Industry Research ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Game Analytics

With the continuous development of the game industry, research in the game field is also deepening. Many interdisciplinary areas of knowledge and theory have been used to promote the development of the game industry. Business intelligence technologies have been applied to game development for game design and game optimization. However, few systematic research efforts have focused on the field of game publishing, particularly with regard to independent (indie) game publishing. In this paper, we analyse data collected from a set of interviews with small indie game developers. The results indicate that most of the indie game developers have already used business intelligence for game self-publishing, although three main challenges have been identified: first, how to conduct marketing promotion and improve the return on investment (ROI); second, how to collect game publishing data; and third, how to analyse the data in order to guide game self-publishing. Our interviews also reveal that the business model applied to a game significantly impacts the role of game analytics. The study expands and advances the research on how game analytics can be used for game publishing, particularly for indie game self-publishing.

White Masculinity, Creative Desires, and Production Ideology in Video Game Development

2020 ◽  
pp. 155541202093987 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ergin Bulut
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Philosophy Of Technology ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Game Development ◽  
White Masculinity ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Developers

Game workers have a problem. They code values and ideologies into games, but they are either not aware of it or deny it. Through a constructive and critical engagement with Games of Empire, I propose the concept of “ludic religiosity” to reveal how white masculinity informs game workers’ professional discourses, technological practices, ludic desires, and imaginations. Drawing on three-year-long ethnographic research and in conversation with cultural studies, philosophy of technology, and postcolonial game studies, I revisit desiring machine and ideology, two major concepts from Games of Empire. My goal is to demonstrate the racialized and gendered discourses and practices behind game developers’ desire to produce cognitive capitalism’s “escapist” commodities and rethink ideology within white masculine production cultures. Foregrounding how racialized and gendered practices and imaginations inform the desire behind the global game industry is crucial, especially in the aftermath of Gamergate and the rise of authoritarianism.

Case Study in Game Design

2009 ◽  
pp. 316-330
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Young
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Online Games ◽  
Global Game ◽  
Multiplayer Online Games ◽  
Growth Area ◽  
Government Education ◽  
Game Industry

The global game industry expects substantial growth in the next decades. Massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) are expected to skyrocket from the $3.8 billion reported in 2006 to $11.8 billion by 2011 (Olausson, 2007). The video game industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 9.1%, or from a $31.6 billion in 2006 to $48.9 by 2011. Serious games are the new growth area. These games are reportedly not for entertainment purposes and are being developed by and for industries such as government, education, health, and business (Scanlon, 2007). Given these figures, the role of game design will have global implications for groups of people around the world. Therefore, design and development must meet the challenges of this technological revolution.

scholarly journals By two: A two-dimensional mobile game model for novice developers

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 1336
Author(s):  
Abdallah Qusef ◽  
Abdallah Ayasreh ◽  
Adnan Shaout ◽  
Muhanna Muhanna
Keyword(s):  
Game Design ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Mobile Game ◽  
Game Features ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Beta Testing ◽  
Selection Of

The objective of this research was to discuss the processes and challenges encountered in the creation of mobile games for both Android and iOS platforms, which would help the novice game developers to enter the big world of mobile game industry. We highlighted each phase of the mobile game development. These involved suggestions on efficient brainstorming of ideas, proper selection of game engine, game design, number and type of pages, creation of levels, and distribution of complexity across the game level. In addition, other factors were considered such as the creation of User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) as well as definition of the screen object’s sizes and positions that would be suitable in all mobile devices. The importance of agile cycles of alpha and beta testing was also discussed, particularly its influence on the enhancement of game features. However, a successful game is recognized based on its earnings. Hence, a guide on how to properly market the game was also included. A model game called “By Two” was used in this study to illustrate and explain the steps in detail.

scholarly journals Ayn Rand’s Objectivist Ethics Applied to Video Game Business

2019 ◽  
Vol 167 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Tuomas Harviainen ◽  
Janne Paavilainen ◽  
Elina Koskinen
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Digital Games ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Online Business ◽  
Game Developers

AbstractThis article analyzes the business ethics of digital games, using Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. It identifies different types of monetization options as virtuous or nonvirtuous, based on Rand’s views on rational self-interest. It divides the options into ethical Mover and unethical Looter designs, presents those logics in relation to an illustrative case example, Zynga, and then discusses a view on the role of players in relation to game monetization designs. Through our analysis of monetization options in the context of Objectivist ethics, the article contributes to discussions on game revenue ethics. It also expands the still understudied area of applying Rand’s ethics to business, in the context of a new sector, game development, and business. This research enables ethicists to apply a wider-than-before perspective on virtue ethics to online business, and helps game developers act in a virtuous manner, which provides them with a long-term business advantage.

EXPLORATION VS. EXPLOITATION AND HOW VIDEO GAME DEVELOPERS ARE ABLE TO COMBINE THE TWO

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (06) ◽  
pp. 1650045
Author(s):  
BJÖRN REMNELAND WIKHAMN ◽  
ALEXANDER STYHRE ◽  
JAN LJUNGBERG ◽  
ANNA MARIA SZCZEPANSKA
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Video Game ◽  
Creative Work ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Industry ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Game Developers ◽  
Suitable Case

This paper reports an in-depth qualitative study about innovation work in the Swedish video game industry. More specifically, it focuses on how video game developers are building ambidextrous capabilities to simultaneously addressing explorative and exploitative activities. The Swedish video game industry is a particularly suitable case to analyze ambidexterity, due to it’s extreme market success and continuous ability to adapt to shifts in technologies and demands. Based on the empirical data, three ambidextrous capabilities are pointed out as particularly valuable for video game developers; (1) the ability to separate between a creative work climate and the effectiveness in project organizing; (2) the balancing of inward and outward ideation influences, and (3) the diversity in operational means and knowledge paired with shared goals and motivations, derived from the love of video games and video game development.

scholarly journals Towards a “Filipino” Video Game: Teaching Filipino Culture and Identity for Video Game Development

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoffer Mitch C. Cerda
Keyword(s):  
Video Games ◽  
Video Game ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Video Game Development ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
Filipino Culture ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Game Developers

This paper uses the author’s experiences of teaching the Filipino module of a multidisciplinary video game development class as a case study in teaching Filipino culture and identity as an element of video game development. A preliminary definition of “Filipino video game” as having Filipino narratives and subject matter, made by Filipino video game developers, and catering to a Filipino audience, is proposed. The realities and limitations of video game development and the video game market in the Philippines is also discussed to show how the dominance of Western video game industry, in terms of the dominance of outsource work for Filipino video game developers and the dominance of non-Filipino video games played by Filipino players, has hindered the development of original Filipino video games. Using four Filipino video games as primary texts discussed in class, students were exposed to Filipinomade video games, and shown how these games use Filipino history, culture, and politics as source material for their narrative and design. Issues of how video games can be used to selfexoticization, and the use of propaganda is discussed, and also how video games can be used to confront and reimagine Filipinoness. The paper ends with a discussion of a student-made game titled Alibatas, a game that aims to teach baybayin, a neglected native writing system in the Philippines as a demonstration of how students can make a Filipino video game. The paper then shows the importance of student-made games, and the role that the academe plays in the critical understanding of Filipino video games, and in defining Filipino culture and identity.

scholarly journals Labour and the Ecological Critique of Capitalism in Videogames: The Case of Stardew Valley

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-266
Author(s):  
A.R. Awagjan ◽  
◽  
A.A. Kalugin ◽  
P.R. Kondrashov ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Video Game ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
Procedural Rhetoric ◽  
History Of ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
To Come ◽  
Material Conditions ◽  
Political Imaginary ◽  
New Strategies

In this paper we conduct an analysis of the critical narratives of Stardew Valley and compare them to other relevant videogames in order to develop new possibilities for an ecological critique of capitalist extractive econo­mies. Critical narratives of this game are aimed primarily at the alienating conditions of labour and deeply devastating modes of production under capitalism that impact and severely damage the environment. Analysing these narratives, we superimpose the immediate messages of the game with the procedural rhetoric and material conditions of their existence. Over the course of our analysis, we highlight a material-narrative disso­nance which, in the case of Stardew Valley, fails to function as a commu­nicative strategy of the game and remains its mere external contradiction. Although the game’s critical narrative may seem overly utopian and its political imaginary a bit underdeveloped, the game elaborates on concrete ways to tackle the alienation of labour and resolve the ecological crisis. In addition to this, the paper covers the history of the interplay between the video game industry and the field of global ecological crisis research. We compare the attempts to raise awareness of the videogames’ own material­ity that preceded Stardew Valley. We conclude that Stardew Valley utilises the language of sustainable co-existence and wasteless local production, expanding this logic both to the sphere of labour and the spectrum of en­vironmental problems. In the case of ecological critique, some gameplay decisions in Stardew Valley enable us to come up with new strategies aimed at creating critical narratives about the environment in videogames. Thus supplementing Stardew Valley’s findings with critical tropes derived from other games (mainly, Rain World), we were able to gather a set of theoretical instruments that could facilitate the creation of games about ecosystems. Following Donna Haraway’s emphasis on the crucial role of narrative fram­ing (“it matters which stories tell stories”), we highlight new opportunities for the entire medium of videogames.

Artificial Intelligence in Games Evolution

2011 ◽  
pp. 98-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murillo Guimarães Carneiro
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Game Development ◽  
Final Goal ◽  
Game Industry ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Game Developers

The growth of the game industry shows a great market to be conquered. However the gaming business now has consumers more demanding and hungry for quality games, not just graphics, but also related to more gameplay and challenge. This chapter provides an overview over a large area that is increasingly explored by game developers, the artificial intelligence (AI). The main goal is to highlight the main reasons that make the great investors fascinated to use AI techniques in games. Indeed, a new paradigm of game began to be defined and introducing it is also the mission of this chapter. As a final goal is intended that this material can be a source of learning and encouragement for beginners on game development and even for the curious and amateurs about the subject.

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