The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist: Why We Should Think Beyond Commercial Game Production

Description

The precarious reality of videogame production beyond the corporate blockbuster studios of North America. The videogame industry, we're invariably told, is a multibillion-dollar, high-tech business conducted by large corporations in certain North American, European, and East Asian cities. But most videogames today, in fact, are made by small clusters of people working on shoestring budgets, relying on existing, freely available software platforms, and hoping, often in vain, to rise to stardom—in short, people working like artists. Aiming squarely at this disconnect between perception and reality, The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist presents a much more accurate and nuanced picture of how the vast majority of videogame-makers work—a picture that reveals the diverse and precarious communities, identities, and approaches that make videogame production a significant cultural practice. Drawing on insights provided by over 400 game developers across Australia, North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, Brendan Keogh develops a new framework for understanding videogame production as a cultural field in all its complexity. Part-time hobbyists, aspirational students, client-facing contractors, struggling independents, artist collectives, and tightly knit local scenes—all have a place within this model. But proponents of non-commercial game making don't exist in isolation; Keogh shows how they and their commercial counterparts are deeply interconnected and codependent in the field of videogame production. A cultural intervention, The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist challenges core assumptions about videogame production—ideas about creativity, professionalism, labor, diversity, education, globalization, and community. Its in-depth, complex portrayal suggests new ways of seeing, and engaging in, the videogame industry that really does exist. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Book Outline 1. From Videogame Industry to Videogame Fields The Field of Videogame Production The In/formalization of Videogame Production Who Is a Videogame Developer in the Videogame Industry? Conclusion 2. Videogame Production in Australia The Other Game Industry Crash Forced Autonomy How to Destroy Everything Conclusion 3. Getting by in the Videogame Gig Economy The Politics of Cultural Gamework Indie Entrepreneurism or Bust Opting Out Conclusion 4. Enrolling Students into the Field The Pipeline Calling All Gamers! You Will Make Games! PWN the Opposition Conclusion 5. Embedding Gamemaking Skills Gamemaking as a Service Doing What You Love, Strategically Transferable Game Development Skills? Conclusion 6. Scenes and Communities Videogame Production between the Global and Local Two Tales of Two Scenes Videogame Making between the Local and the Translocal Conclusion 7. From Videogame Field to Videogame Industries Making Videogames Better Organizing the Disorganized Conclusion Conclusion: Centering the Field of Videogame Production Notes Introduction Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Conclusion References Index