The Business of Play

Financialization and Optimization in World of Warcraft

Bibliographic Data

ID12804591
AuthorsDaniel Nielsen (0000-0002-9165-9614, Charles University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Publication date2025-05-27
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGames and Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1555-4120 • E-ISSN: 1555-4139
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/15554120251345644
OpenAlexW4410840531
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited37

In World of Warcraft (WOW) , thousands of players work together to analyze the game's rules and maximize their rewards. Organized boosting—a paid player service—is widely seen as undermining the meritocratic ideal that ties rewards to effort and skill. Drawing on semistructured interviews with six former providers of boosting services, this study argues that optimization in digital games is not solely a strategic choice, but often a necessity shaped by financial pressures. The introduction of token-based economic elements, such as the WoW token, nudges players into financial speculation and wealth accumulation, transforming optimization into a form of labor. This study considers boosting within the framework of financialization, highlighting how optimization mirrors broader tensions in a game culture shaped by corporate commodification practices

Advertising · Business · Cognitive psychology · Economics · Financialization · Market economy · Sociology · Cinema and Media Studies · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Digital Games and Media · Psychology · Social Psychology · Marketing

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