The global expansion of videogames. Risks of corporate concentration in the era of digital capitalism

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n36a1710

Keywords:

Videogames, cultural and creative industries, concentration, digital convergence, digital capitalism

Abstract

The relevance of the economic aspect of the video game industry is developed from a series of processes of concentration of corporations specialized in information and communication technologies. These companies work from a capitalist logic where they dominate, control and direct the different creative stages of the design and commercialization. The main objective of this essay is identify the processes of concentration and integration of the video game industry, with the intention of establishing some characteristics of this industry in the processes of digital capitalism. Therefore, the main objective of this essay is to establish the characteristics of the video game industry in the processes of digital capitalism, from its processes of concentration and integration. The main observations are related to the business models of large corporations to develop and market video games, using strategies to avoid risks and generate effective monetization processes. Likewise, the practice of video games is redefining consumption habits where the intensive use of the mobile phone generates new cultural practices. Cultural and creative industries evolve continuously and permanently, so the expansion of the video game industry has reached a level of planetary hegemony in technological and economic terms and enables the development of new agencies.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Global Statistics ℹ️

Cumulative totals since publication
1482
Views
2313
Downloads
3795
Total
Downloads by format:
PDF (Spanish) 1212 PDF 798 EPUB (Spanish) 117 EPUB 116 HTML (Spanish) 45 HTML 25

Author Biography

  • César Bárcenas Curtis, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, Mexico

    PhD in Political and Social Science, specialized in Communication, by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Member of the Sistema Nacional de Investigadores (National System of Researchers, SNI), with a Level 1. Professor at the Social Science and Law School of the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas. He recently published the books: “Indice de potencialidad de las industrias culturales y creativas en Tamaulipas. Un análisis desde el marco regional” (Potentiality Index for the Cultural and Creative Industries in Tamaulipas. An Analysis from the Regional Framework), and “El apagón analógico en México: Oportunidades y riesgos para las políticas de comunicación de servicio público ante la transición a la televisión digital terrestre” (The Analog Shutdown in México: Opportunities and Risks for the Public Service Communication Policies in Front of the Transition towards Digital Terrestrial Television”, works from which the main contributions are the opening and development of a discussion in the context of technological transition, as well as, building and consolidating a line of research regarding cultural and creative industries in Mexico, in the context of digital convergence and transmedia environments.

References

Armstrong, M. (2019). The companies making the most from games. https://www.statista.com/chart/8870/tencent-is-top-of-the-game-revenues-leaderboard/

Benjamin, W. (2006). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. En M.G. Durham y D. M. Kellner (Eds.) Media and Cultural Studies Key Works (18-40). Blackwell Publishing.

Birkinbine, B.J. (2017). Microsoft Corporation. En B. Birkinbine, R. Gómez y J. Wasko (Eds.) Global Media Giants (383-397). Routledge

Brookey, R. A. (2010). Hollywood gamers. Digital convergence in the film and video game industries. Indiana University Press.

Bustamante, E. (2009). De las industrias culturales al entretenimiento. La creatividad, la innovación… Viejos y nuevos señuelos para la investigación de la cultura. Diálogos de la comunicación, 78, 1-25.

Bustamante, E. (2011). La creatividad ¿contra la cultura?. En. E. Bustamente (Ed.) Las industrias creativas: Amenazas sobre la cultura digital (pp.15-19). Gedisa.

Carrasco, Á. y Saperas, E. (2012). La UNESCO y la institucionalización de la cultura: hacia un nuevo estatuto de cultura. Razón y palabra, 80.

Carrillo, J.A. (2015). La dimension social de los videojuegos ‘online’: de las comunidades de jugadores a los ‘E-Sports’. Index.Comunicación, 5 (1), 39-51.

Castells, M. (2009). Comunicación y poder. Alianza Editorial.

Castro, A. (2016). Industrias culturales vs Industrias creativas: un análisis crítico. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314840453_Industrias_culturales_vs_industrias_creativas_un_analisis_critico

Clement, J. (2021). Most popular devices used for videogames in selected markets and regions as of January 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1132960/popular-devices-video-games/#professional

Clement, J. (2021). All time best-selling Xbox One video game titles worldwide as of January 2020, by unit sales. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1091371/all-time-best-selling-xbox-one-game/

Clement, J. (2022). Gaming revenue worldwide 2021, by device. https://www.statista.com/statistics/278181/global-gaming-market-revenue-device/

Clement, J. (2022). Leading services for accessing digital video games in the UK 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/291838/leading-services-used-for-digital-video-games-in-the-united-kingdom/

Clement, J. (2022). All time best-selling PlayStation 4 video game titles worldwide as of August 2021, by unit sales. https://www.statista.com/statistics/953073/all-time-best-selling-video-game-ps4-global/

Comisión Europea (1997). Green Paper on the convergence of the Telecommunications, Media and Information Technology Sectors, and the Implications for Regulation. Comisión Europea.

Corbetta, P. (2007). Metodología y técnicas de investigación social. McGraw-Hill

Cuff, S. (2017). Now You’re Playing with Power: Nintendo and the Commodification of Nostalgia. University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/217192408.pdf

Dyer, N. y Sharman, Z. (2005). The Political Economy of Canada’s Video and Computer Game Industry. Canadian Journal of Communication, 30, 187-210. https://doi.org/10.22230/cjc.2005v30n2a1575

Garnham, N. (2005). From Culture to creative industries. An analysis of the implications of the “creative industries” approach to arts and media policy making in the United Kingdom. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 11 (1), 15-29. https://doi.org/10.1080/10286630500067606

Gee, J. P. (2008). Video Games and Embodiment. Games and Culture, 3 (3-4), 253-263. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120083173

Giddens, A. (1986). The Constitution of Society. Outline of the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press.

Heredia, V. (2017). Revolución Netflix: desafíos para la industria audiovisual. Chasqui, Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, 135, 275-295. https://doi.org/10.16921/chasqui.v0i135.2776

Hesmondhalgh, D. (2008). Culture and Creative Industries. En T. Bennett y J. Frow (Eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Cultural Analysis (552-569). Sage Publications.

Horkheimer, M. y Adorno, T. (2006). The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. En M.G. Durham y D. M. Kellner, Media and Cultural Studies KeyWorks (41-72). Blackwell Publishing.

Hutchby, I. (2001). Technologies, Texts and Affordances. Sociology, 35 (2), 441-456. https://doi.org/10.1177/S0038038501000219

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture. New York University Press.

Karaganis, J. (2007). Structures of Participation in Digital Culture. Social Science Research Council.

Kellner, D. M. y Durham, M. G. (2006). Adventures in Media and Cultural Studies: Introducing the KeyWorks. En M.G. Durham y D. M. Kellner, Media and Cultural Studies KeyWorks (IX-XXXVIII). Blackwell Publishing.

Kerr, A. (2006). The business and culture of digital games. Sage Publicactions.

Kerr, A. (2017). Global games. Production, circulation and policy in the networked era. Routledge.

Knoche, M. (2021). Capitalisation of the Media Industry From a Political Economy Perspective. Triple C, 19 (2), 325-342. https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v19i2.1283

Labour Party (1997). Create the future: a strategy for cultural policy, arts and the creative economy. Labour Party.

Lefevbre, H. (1979). Space: Social Product and Use Value. En N. Brenner y S. Elden (Eds.), State, Space, World (185-195). University of Minnesota Press.

Miège, B. (2011). Theorizing the Cultural Industries: Persistent Specificities and reconsiderations. En J. Wasko, G. Murdock y H. Sousa, The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications (83-108). Blackwell Publishing

Murdock, G. (1997). Redrawing the map of the Communications Industries: Concentration and Ownership in the Era of Privatization. En P. Golding y G. Murdock, The Political Economy of Media V.1 (308-350). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Murdock, G. (2000). Digital futures: European Television in the Age of Convergence. En J. Wieten, G. Murdock y P. Dahlgren (Eds.), Television across Europe (35-57). Sage.

Murdock, G. y Golding, P. (2016). Political Economy and media production: a reply to Dwyer. Media, Culture & Society, 38 (5), 763-769. https://doi.org/10.1177/0163443716655094

Murphy, S. (2016). Grand Theft Auto V: Capitalist Hyperreality in the Age of Cynical Reason. En B. Kuhn y A. Bhéreur-Lagounaris (Eds.), Levelling up: the cultural impact of contemporary videogames (151-161). Inter-Disciplinary Press.

Navarro, J.G. (2022). Global box office revenue from 2005 to 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271856/global-box-office-revenue/

Ozalp, H., Cennamo, C. y Gawer, A. (2018). Disruption in Platform-Based Ecosystems. Journal of Management Studies, 55 (7), 1203-1241. https://doi-org.pbidi.unam.mx:2443/10.1111/joms.12351

Portafolio (2020). Ventas de videojuegos crecen a triple dígito en la cuarentena. https://www.portafolio.co/negocios/ventas-de-videojuegos-crecen-a-triple-digito-en-la-cuarentena-540506

Prado, E. (2008-2009). Reptes de la convergència per a la televisió. Quaderns del CAC, 31-32, 31-42.

Richter, F. (2018). Gaming: The real money is in the software. https://www.statista.com/chart/13258/video-game-industry-revenue/

Roig, A., San Cornelio, G., Ardèvol, E., Alsina, P. y Pàges, R. (2009). Videogame as Media Practice: An Exploration of the Intersections Between Play and Audiovisual Culture. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 15 (1), 89-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856508097019

Schafër, M. (2009). Participation inside? User activities between design and appropriation. En M. van den Boomen, S. Lammes, A. S. Lehmann, J. Raessens y M. T. Schäfer (Eds.), Digital Material. Tracing New Media in Everyday Life and Technology (147-158). Amsterdam University Press.

Schiller, H. (1997). Electronics and Economics Serving an American Century. En P. Golding y G. Murdock (Eds.), The Political Economy of Media V.1 (543-559). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Schlesinger, P. (2009). La creatividad como inspiradora de políticas públicas. Cuadernos de información 24, 79-86.

Simon, J. P. (2021). The production and distribution of digital content in China. An historical account of the role of internet companies and videogames. Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, 23 (2), 190-209. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-10-2020-0138

Smythe, D. (1997). Communications: Blindspot of Western Marxism. En P. Golding y G. Murdock (Eds.), The Political Economy of Media V.1 (438-464). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Statista (2022). Lifetime unit sales of the Nintendo Switch console worldwide from March 2017 to September 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/687059/nintendo-switch-unit-sales-worldwide/

Szpilbarg, D. y Saferstein, E. (2014). De la industria cultural a las industrias creativas: un análisis de la transformación del término y sus usos contemporáneos. Estudios de Filosofía Práctica e Historia de la Ideas 16 (2), 99-112.

Srinivasan, A. y Venkatraman, V. (2020). Architectural Convergence and Platform Evolution: Empirical Test of Complementor Moves in Videogames. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 67 (2), 266-282. https://doi.org/10.1109/TEM.2018.2881560

Tremblay, G. (2011). Desde la teoría de las industrias culturales. Evaluación crítica de la economia de la creatividad. En. E. Bustamente (Ed.), Industrias creativas. Amenazas sobre la cultura digital (49-79). Gedisa Editorial.

Trenta, M. (2014). Modelos de negocio emergentes en la industria del videojuego. Icono 14, 12, 347-373. https://doi.org/10.7195/ri14.v12i1.565

Trenta, M. (2018). La industria del videojuego frente a la era digital. Nuevos contenidos y nuevos públicos. Editorial Fragua.

Tulloch, R. y Johnson, C. (2022). Games and data capture culture: play in the era of accelerated neoliberalism. Media, Culture & Society, 44 (5), 922-934. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437211045556

UNCTAD (2008). Creative Economy. Report 2008. United Nations.

UNESCO (1982). Industrias culturales en juego. FCE.

Wasko, J. (2017). The Walt Disney Company. En B.J. Birkinbine, R. Gómez y J. Wasko (Eds.), Global Media Giants (11-25). Routledge.

Zallo, R. (1988). Economía de la cultura y la comunicación. Akal.

Zallo, R. (2011). Industrias culturales y territorios creativos. Los límites de la transversalidad. En. E. Bustamente (Ed.), Industrias creativas. Amenazas sobre la cultura digital (153-190). Gedisa Editorial.

Zandt, F. (2022). Has GameStop Averted a game Over?. https://www.statista.com/chart/27150/gamestop-revenue-per-fiscal-year-by-product-category/

Zandt, F. (2022). The Gaming Giants Building A Studio Empire. https://www.statista.com/chart/26756/number-of-first-party-studios-owned-by-selected-public-video-game-companies/

Published

01-01-2023

Issue

Section

Miscellaneous of Research articles and essays

How to Cite

Bárcenas Curtis, C. (2023). The global expansion of videogames. Risks of corporate concentration in the era of digital capitalism. Doxa Comunicación. Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication Studies and Social Sciences, 36, 273-289. https://doi.org/10.31921/doxacom.n36a1710
PlumX Metrics