The Discourse of Digital Dispossession

Paid Modifications and Community Crisis on Steam

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2409686
AutoresDaniel James Joseph, Daniel Joseph (0000-0003-4628-7417, University of Toronto, autor de correspondencia)
Año2018
Volumen13
Número7
Páginas690-707
Fecha de publicación2018-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1555412018756488
OpenAlexW2793148866
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas15

This article is a chronicle and analysis of a community crisis in digital space that took place on Valve Corporation's digital distribution platform, Steam. When Valve and Bethesda (publisher and developer of Skyrim) decided to allow mods to be sold by mod makers themselves, there ensued a community revolt against the commodification of leisure and play. I put this crisis of play and work in dialogue with Harvey's concept of "accumulation by dispossession," firmly placing it within a longer history of disruptive capital accumulation strategies. I then conduct a discourse analysis of community members on reddit, as they make sense of and come to terms with this process of dispossession. Arising in the discourse was not class consciousness per se, but instead a pervasive feeling of helplessness and frustration as games, play, and leisure began to feel like work

Capital (architecture · Commodification · Corporation · Economics · Economy · Feeling · Media studies · Political science · Sociology · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Digital Games and Media · History · Law · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology