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RESUMO Este artigo tem o objetivo de apresentar um panorama sobre o desenvolvimento tecnológico no século XX, particularmente dos videogames, a obsolescência tecnológica e o lixo digital. O mapeamento desse cenário é fundamental para problematizar as aproximações entre -games e o pensamento acerca do Antropoceno, o qual será feito por meio da exposição de alguns exemplos de jogos eletrônicos que incorporam narrativas ambientais em seu -gameplay. Baseados nessa estrutura, desenvolvemos um estudo que demonstra como a indústria dos videogames surgiu sincronicamente ao desenvolvimento militar no século XX, tornou-se um problema ambiental ao produzir lixo digital e, nas duas últimas décadas do século XXI, incorporou as preocupações originadas da perspectiva do Antropoceno na elaboração de gameplay.

The games industry has seen a burst of new interest in the prospect of unionization. The efforts of organizations like Game Workers Unite have attracted much favorable coverage in the enthusiast and trade industry press, increasing awareness amongst videogame audiences of the difficult working conditions facing professional game developers. However, often missing from these discussions is an articulation of what unionization would look like for the significant number of game developers working in precarious conditions in small, often informal teams. The fragmented nature of contemporary gamework presents challenges in aggregating worker power similar to those found in other fields of creative or precarious work and entrepreneurial careers, where contingent work is typically organized around piecemeal, project–based funding arrangements. In this paper we draw from empirical research with Australian game developers to identify a number of barriers to unionization posed by small-scale game production. We also identify how within these same circumstances, novel and alternative forms of solidarity and collective action are beginning to emerge. The article ultimately argues that any successful attempt to unionize videogame workers will need to both account for, and take advantage of, the complex situation of small-scale videogame production in local contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes to explore the concept of videogames rules by Salen and Zimmerman through the work of Yoko Ono, specifically the event scores or performative instructions published in Grapefruit (2000 [1964]). To do so, the authors have created an interactive experience based on four event scores' rules where gameplay emerges from their direct application. The project is contextualized through those rules and the differences between Ono's work and Fluxus. The return on the creative act reveals an innovative approach outside of the imperatives of "fun," privileging an embracing of errors and incertitude.

This paper presents an overview of technological development during the twentieth century that focuses on video games, technological obsolescence, and digital garbage. In addition to mapping this trajectory, this article problematizes the relationship between games and ideas about the Anthropocene using examples of electronic games that incorporate environmental narratives in their gameplay. We demonstrate that the video game industry emerged synchronously alongside military development during the twentieth century, became an environmental problem by producing digital garbage, and, in the first two decades of the twenty-first century, incorporated concerns about Anthropocene-related crises in the gameplay of its games. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video games with suburban settings offer distinctive experiences of quotidian environments. This article examines how Australian games set in homes or verdant residential neighbourhoods contribute to a global circulation of ideas about suburban life. It contributes to understanding the relationship between Australian games and Australian society by showing how gameworlds that represent everyday spatial environments exist at intersections of the global and the local. By using suburbia as a focal point for demonstrating how Australian games can be read on both international and local levels, the article explores an alternative to a cultural nationalist approach. The Australian games examined are Rumu (Robot House, 2017), Roombo: First Blood (Samurai Punk, 2019), Mars Underground (Moloch Media, 2019), Moving Out (SMG Studio and DevM Games, 2020), Untitled Goose Game (House House, 2020) and Unpacking (Witch Beam, 2021). This article argues that by positioning suburbia as both familiar and foreign, games offer experiences of virtual travel and exploration that contribute to re-imagining everyday environments. While addressing universal themes such as moving house and domestic labour, these games can also be understood in relation to Australian cultural traditions and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eric Barone's 2016 indie 'country life simulator' video game Stardew Valley has yet to be evaluated through the dual lenses of neo-liberal capitalism and ecocriticism. Given his intention for the game to have real-world messages, including the importance of community organization against corporate domination and of environmental conservation, there is a need to evaluate the intent and execution of his vision to determine if the resulting gameplay truly conveys those messages to his audience. This article draws on neo-liberal capitalist video game theory, or the simulation of capitalist circuits in video games as theorized by Kline and Golumbia, and ecocritical video game theory, or environmental modelling strategies in video games as discussed by Chang and Condis, to argue that video games are political texts, that the game mechanics within demonstrate the process-oriented 'work as play' mentality that simulates capitalist circuits and that the misrepresentation of environmentality through selective reproduction of real-world processes detrimentally impacts the agency and responsibility of consumers of video games. After engaging in an analysis of Barone's representations of the in-game economy and environment via the player character's origin story, methods of production, community organization and environmental interactions, this article concludes with a final discussion about the limitations of video game design, defence of Barone's intent and execution and submission of suggestions for improvement and reflections on future study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queer identities have predominantly existed at the peripheries of media representation as well as communication research. Linking this research gap with the field of video games as a medium, this study examines video game companies and their strategic communication efforts toward LGBTQ+ stakeholders through critical discourse analysis with influences of queer theory. With this focus, we aim to identify how video game companies discursively construct queer identities and utilize them for strategic communication. Through the analysis of the social media and online discourses surrounding two games with queer inclusion, we show that queer branding has an influence on the way strategic communication efforts are employed throughout the year, as well as the type of content. Furthermore, we show that in our selected cases, organizations can successfully align themselves with their LGBTQ+ stakeholders by having queer inclusion at the core of their strategic communication efforts and authentic organizational practices.

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This article sets out to explore the playful poetics of recent indie games in terms of what could be described as metareferential interfaces. Drawing on a range of theories from literary studies, media studies, and game studies, we propose to conceptualize metareferential interfaces as interfaces that foreground and draw attention to their own mediality. They thus allow for videogame-specific forms of metareference and metalepsis to be employed as part of often quite experimental and aesthetically ambitious approaches to videogame design. Using the recent indie games Pony Island (2016) and OneShot (2016) as our core case studies, we offer an in-depth analysis of this metaization of videogames' playful poetics, focusing primarily on three salient aspects: First, the multiplication of interfaces can lead to mise-en-abyme-like structures that highlight and reflect on the mediality of videogames while also establishing ontological boundaries between different levels of videogame storyworlds. Second, the disruption of interface functionality is a metareferential strategy that can be used to establish specific gameplay challenges and reflect on the design conventions of videogame interfaces. Third, the transgression of ontological boundaries affects not only the borders between subworlds within a videogame's storyworld but also the more fundamental distinction between what is "in the game" and what is "outside it." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, independent video games have been presented as an alternative to approach the development of a ludic typology called newsgames in which, distancing themselves from the interests of the entertainment industry, a series of games related to the pandemic are presented. From here, we seek to examine the gameplay elements and persuasive messages of 17 “indie games” in the context of COVID-19, categorizing them according to types of newsgames and determining any patterns present among them. The results manifest a tendency towards tabloid newsgames, which are characterized by dealing with sensational, direct, and immediate information using humor and exaggeration to convey messages, which, in this case, focuses on biosafety measures such as hand washing, the use of alcohol for sanitation, and social distancing. On the part of the gameplay elements, a linear narrative is maintained, but it is mainly a sum of achievements to reach the game’s objectives. In short, independent newsgames are formalized as an instrument of diversification in media realities that allow for the presenting of information in an alternative way without depending on editorial lines within a crisis context, as has been the case during the pandemic.

This article proposes an analysis of recent alternative video games through the particularities of industrial music’s aesthetics. Considering a massive increase in video game production by solo designers since 2015, the author identifies how singular practices of game creation can be inspired by underground art forms. To further this research, five game developers were invited to participate through interviews: Yames, Selfish Dream, Valerie Dusk, Stef Pinto and Andrea Pignataro. The article proposes an analysis of the common production strategies between industrial culture and these game creators, more precisely by studying the singular use of noise in their games (audio but also visual and spatial) and how their creations act as noise in the context of the dominant video game industry by weakening its core definitions of what games are and the technocentrist history of the medium.

Game development and production practices are complex and highly reflected processes—worldwide. This explorative article discusses video game development as a cultural and creative industry in India, including the industry's history and introducing recent trends which indicate profound transformations—the use and implementation of Indian cultural heritage in game settings. In the rather short history of Indian game development as compared to other countries—a significant number of games made in India first were produced around 2010—the industry has already lived through big changes and challenges. This article aims at introducing Indian game development and argues that especially independent (so-called indie) game studios in their search for their own, region-specific game development and stand-alone characteristics for Indian games increasingly turn to what they perceive as their own cultural heritage, including, for example, elements from history, art (music, dance, dress styles, and others), and architecture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A indústria de jogos sofre com um problema de horas extras obrigatórias não remuneradas. Isso geralmente ocorre nos meses anteriores ao lançamento do jogo ou a um evento importante, e é chamado de "crunch" ou "crunch time". Por meio de uma revisão de literatura, este artigo investiga o fenômeno generalizado do crunch time tanto no AAA quanto na indústria independente de jogos digitais. Estabelecemos fatores que influenciam esse comportamento e fornecemos exemplos de como isso pode afetar a vida pessoal e a saúde mental dos trabalhadores. Também descobrimos que o crunch ainda é um problema mesmo para desenvolvedores solitários, e está relacionado à cultura de desenvolvimento de jogos. Este artigo relaciona uma alta incidência da síndrome de burnout e a baixa expectativa de tempo na indústria AAA – entre 3 e 9 anos (Cote & Harris, 2021) – entre os trabalhadores de videogames ao crunch. De acordo com o IGDA, 42% dos desenvolvedores são submetidos ao crunch. Esperamos lançar uma luz sobre o assunto e, com isso, conscientizar sobre as condições insalubres de trabalho a que os trabalhadores da indústria de jogos estão submetidos. Esperamos também que novas e mais realistas expectativas possam ser criadas em relação ao desenvolvimento independente de jogos, respeitando a prática e seus desenvolvedores.

Video games have long held a spotty history in their narratives regarding women. Most research has examined large budget games and identified issues of simplification, oversexualization, and a general lack of agency among female characters. The present study explores the gaming niche of "indie"—or independent game developer—video games in their representations of women in particular with Never Alone, Gone Home, and Her Story. These games were released around the time frame of the GamerGate controversy—a controversy which drew attention to the treatment of women in gaming culture—and hence, the games are used to reflect on a potential shift in games culture following the controversy. This article argues that these game narratives emphasized multilayered female characterizations, female-to-female interactions, and internal dramas as a way to potentially reach female gamers and present an alternative, humanizing narrative on women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The independent (“indie”) game is a common category of video games, referring generally to those that are developed by individuals or small teams. When creating new games, most developers recruit a testing team made up of users/gamers who are not in the immediate design team and generate feedback about the game. The main objective of this study is to explore a qualitative way for categorising and filtering online reviews through social media platforms to help indie developers process user feedback efficiently during the extended game testing phase. This research adopts a qualitative methodology to develop in-depth and high-quality results based on case studies of Manifold Garden (William Chyr Studio, 2019) and No Man’s Sky (Hello Games, 2016). It includes qualitative content analysis based on Grabarczyk and Aarseth’s (2018) ontological meta-model (2018). A comparative investigation is also used to evaluate two key media platforms: YouTube and Steam. The results indicate that Steam users’ reviews focused on fundamental aspects of the game operation and game mechanics. In contrast, reviews on YouTube were related to the visual performance of games. The researcher observed an understanding gap between reviewers and developers, which means not all reviewers’ advice had been accepted. In conclusion, indie developers could consider platform types when categorising and targeting user feedback.

This article explains how specific aesthetic decisions work in the game The Dream Machine. I analyze it through the lens of Russian Formalism: particular techniques of making a video game are judged through Shklovsky's Art as a Technique, and the problem of the game genre is presented through Tynianov's The Literary Fact. Theoretically, I aspire to reclaim the original context for these ideas, which is surprisingly relevant to contemporary horror media. Digital games as an artistic form re-introduce the effect of estrangement into the ongoing experiments with their medium; in The Dream Machine, this effect is created by replacing a digital simulacrum of computer generated imagery with high resolution scans of real life objects, made of modeling clay, cardboard and found objects. I label this technique "scary matter", and it can be found both in games, animation films and pop music videos, such as Peter Gabriel's Sledgehammer. The medium of a digital game suggests it is timeless and infinitely replayable, which intensifies the effect of estrangement in the case of always-already dead 'scary matter'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, independent video games have been presented as an alternative to approach the development of a ludic typology called newsgames in which, distancing themselves from the interests of the entertainment industry, a series of games related to the pandemic are presented. From here, we seek to examine the gameplay elements and persuasive messages of 17 "indie games" in the context of COVID-19, categorizing them according to types of newsgames and determining any patterns present among them. The results manifest a tendency towards tabloid newsgames, which are characterized by dealing with sensational, direct, and immediate information using humor and exaggeration to convey messages, which, in this case, focuses on biosafety measures such as hand washing, the use of alcohol for sanitation, and social distancing. On the part of the gameplay elements, a linear narrative is maintained, but it is mainly a sum of achievements to reach the game's objectives. In short, independent newsgames are formalized as an instrument of diversification in media realities that allow for the presenting of information in an alternative way without depending on editorial lines within a crisis context, as has been the case during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commercial game makers at all scales of production have increasingly come to incorporate livestreaming into every stage of the game development cycle. Mainstream hits like Fortnite and League of Legends owe their ongoing success in no small part to their massive uptake by streamers, and triple-A releases from major publishers can reliably expect significant attention on streaming platforms. But what about smaller, lower budget games? For independent game developers, the costs and benefits of streaming are less clear. Based on interviews with small commercial indie developers in Toronto and Montréal, this article critically examines different discourses around streaming and commercial indie games, focusing on developer perceptions of the benefits and risks of streaming and its impacts on indie game-making practices, including production, promotion, and community-building. Contrary to persistent popular myths about streaming as the key to 'discoverability', commercial indie game development remains a precarious form of cultural work, and indie games collectively attract only a tiny fraction of the overall audience on streaming platforms. There is a high level of uncertainty about the factors that led to a given game's success, leaving many indie developers ambivalent about leveraging influencer attention and even as they commit significant time and energy trying to doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, Draw Me a Pixel released There Is No Game, a game that playfully engages with the concept of the metagame and its varied meanings to examine the relationship between developers, games, and their audiences. The game has much in common with other metagames released during the boom and bust cycle of the indie game market in terms of its themes and playful attitude toward its players. Like many of these games, it features an antagonistic narrator, who, upon launching the game, announces that there is no game. The concept of a game resistant to play has become a recurring theme in many metagames that critique industry pressures, trends, and players’ playful resistance to designed experiences. This article examines There Is No Game’s use of hypermediacy (as a feature of both its narrative and design) to deliver its critique of the industry, while offering insight into its own development. More than simply breaking the fourth-wall, hypermediacy becomes the instigator for critical reflection and is used to highlight the challenges faced by indie developers and the material conditions in which games are made. Yet, unlike its predecessors that share this critique, There Is No Game offers an optimistic perspective on the future of the industry.

This article draws on over 60 interviews and 120 surveys with indie game developers to illustrate relational labour and entrepreneurship practices in cultural industries and their relationship to 'good work'. We first outline the changing organization of games work, the shift towards so-called indie production, and the associated rejection of creatively constrained, hierarchically managed production models. In the move towards small-scale games making, indies jettisoned producers because producers represented industry modes of work, values and creative constraints. But indies are now struggling to manage production processes without producers. We use developer narratives to highlight how this 'missing producer' work is redistributed in the form of cultural entrepreneurship, cultural intermediation and relational labour. This relational labour simultaneously supports and undermines sustainable production practices, as developers take on impossible workloads associated with networking and connecting with others. We next illustrate how the inherent valorization of growth and expansion in cultural entrepreneurship discourses may force developers to mimic industry practices and organization in order to find funding, but these practices inherently conflict with their desire to focus on making games as small, sustainable and creatively autonomous teams. Ultimately, we want to demonstrate how interviews and time spent with indie developers help us account for otherwise invisible and ambiguous cultural labour practices and discourses, thus allowing us to make sense of the larger context of cultural production and its possible futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research is designed to determine the extent to which game reviews on the Steam platform can be used as a means of discerning the common needs of players and any flaws in existing games. In this study, the independent game No Man’s Sky is adopted as the subject of the research. Results indicated that the majority of reviews reflect shortcomings of No Man’s Sky and that the developer has acknowledged these shortcomings. Statistical research and the analytic hierarchy process supported that variables on the Steam platform reflect players’ common needs and constitute a model by means of which developers can assess constructive data. Based on these results, the researcher argues that it provides clarification for indie game developers who rely on online reviews on Steam for ideas which can assist them in effecting improvements in-game quality on a constant basis.

Drawing on Janet Murray (1997), Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman (2004), and other previous proposals, this article conceptualizes player agency as the possibility space for "meaningful" choice expressed via player action that translates into avatar action, afforded and constrained by a videogame's design. It further distinguishes between four core dimensions of agency thus conceptualized: First, spatial-explorative agency is afforded by those elements of a videogame's design that determine the player's ability to navigate and traverse the game spaces via their avatar. Second, temporal-ergodic agency is afforded by those elements of a videogame's design that determine the player's options for interacting with the videogame as a temporal system. Third, configurative-constructive agency is afforded by those elements of a videogame's design that allow the player to configure their avatar and/or (re)construct the game spaces. Fourth, narrative-dramatic agency is afforded by those elements of a videogame's design that determine the player's "meaningful" impact on the unfolding story. The article then moves on to analyze two case studies of independently developed videogames: ZA/UM's role-playing game Disco Elysium (2019), whose complex nonlinear narrative structure primarily affords configurative and narrative agency, and System Era Softworks's sandbox adventure game Astroneer (2019), whose procedurally generated game spaces and "open" game mechanics primarily afford explorative, constructive, and dramatic agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which disturbing video games incite real-world violence has been a source of intense debate since the late 1990s following school shootings across the United States. In 2017, the release of Team Salvato's Doki Doki Literature Club! (DDLC!) signified a major shift in independent game developers' approaches to creating a violent horror gaming experience: the developers include the use of nonlinear sound (e.g. frequency jumps, non-standard harmony, noise/chaos) and local-level melodic transformations to complicate player immersion. In this article, I argue that the game's music is one of the greatest sources of horror. The game music in DDLC! works as both an immersive and a disruptive agent that shapes the player's gaming experience. Though the game is a work of fiction, the emotions and reflections of the player prompted by the violent acts within are real – the player's experiences of horror, fear and terror are visceral. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at issues of precarious and exploited labor surrounding contemporary queer independent video game making. In recent years, there has been a marked rise in indie games made by and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people. These games and their creators are commonly lauded for inspiring change in the mainstream game industry and making the medium of video games more diverse and therefore "better." However, this cultural narrative obfuscates the socioeconomic challenges faced by many queer indie game-makers. Drawing from interviews conducted by the author, this article presents a counter-narrative about the work of developing video games by and about marginalized people. Although such games are often described as "easy" or "free" to make, they in fact entail considerable, and rarely fairly compensated, labor. Simultaneously, value is being extracted from this labor by companies who look to queer indie games for inspiration, which translates into profit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zack Bertok is the lead designer and programmer of the Siralim game franchise and founder of Thylacine Studios. This interview explores a range of topics and issues relating to game development, design and content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essay discusses the role of paratext in framing players’ experience of videogames, focusing on the indie game scene and specifically examining three types of paratext: game title, game description, and the readme file. It cites examples coming from the author’s experience as an independent game creator and as a player. The focus on concrete manifestations of paratext reflects the author’s belief that examples should not only be used to illustrate theoretical arguments about paratextual phenomena, but should help deepen our understanding of them.

This essay draws on research undertaken as part of a research network project exploring the growth of independent game producers in recent years and the associated changes in the technological and economic conditions of the games industry in the UK, Europe, and the North American continent. It reflects on the possibilities of and challenges to a critical and creative maturing of video games as a cultural medium, evaluating these in the context of contemporary developments in global technoculture and the digital economy. Bernard Stiegler’s critical analysis of hyperindustrial consumer culture is mobilized in evaluating the dreams for an indie future of video games as a creative force in digital cultural transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the history, practices and impact of the Indie Megabooth and its founders in terms of their role as a 'cultural intermediary' in promoting and supporting independent or 'indie' game development. The Megabooth is a crucial broker, gatekeeper and orchestrator of not only perceptions of and markets for indie games but also the socio-material possibility of indie game making itself. In its highly publicized outward-facing role, the Megabooth ascribes legitimacy and value to specific games and developers, but its behind-the-scenes logistical and brokerage activities are of equal if not greater importance. The Megabooth mediates between a diverse set of actors and stakeholders with multiple (often conflicting) needs and goals and in doing so helps constitute the field of production, distribution, reception and consumption for indie games. 'Indie-ness' and independence are actively performed in and through intermediaries such as the Megabooth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Book review of Esther MacCallum-Stewart, Online Games, Social Narratives. New York: Routledge, 2014, hardcover, $115.68 (208p) ISBN 978-0-415-89190-5.

The paper is devoted to controversies in computer games studies connected with game classification and characteristics. Controversies on walking simulators are discussed in depth; also historical roots of these games and their ergodicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]