Gameplay as Design: Uses of computer player's immaterial labour

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Kjetil Sandvik
  • Adam Erik Arvidsson
The primary mode of reception in computer games is play. This implies that the agency performed by computer players does not limit itself to the process of reading, but is constituted by a creative enactment of the structures of interactive actions and events inherent in the game. As such gameplay may be regarded as a kind of (unpaid) immaterial labour, implying players' socialization, creativity and a general intellect, that is the ability to appropriate and rework the computer game as a work of culture. This article investigates the immaterial labour of computer players and discusses how this is being put to work by the game industry at different levels - as means of producing fascinating game experiences and by means of including player agency as a productive force in game design processes - thus connecting it to the economy of computer game production.
Original languageEnglish
JournalNordic Journal of Media Studies
Volume5
Pages (from-to)89-104
Number of pages16
ISSN1601-829X
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2007

Number of downloads are based on statistics from Google Scholar and www.ku.dk


No data available

ID: 23321951