A Precarious Game
The Illusion of Dream Jobs in the Video Game Industry
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19971308 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Erol Bulut (0000-0002-7972-3919, corresponding author), Ergin Bulut |
| Year | 2020 |
| Pages | 222 |
| Publication date | 2020-03-15 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | BOOK |
| Venue | Precarious Game (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Cornell University Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.7591/cornell/9781501746529.001.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W4251100295 |
| Open Library | OL28056969M |
| ISBN | 9781501746529 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
This book is an ethnographic examination of video game production. The developers that were researched for almost three years in a medium-sized studio in the United States loved making video games that millions play. Only some, however, can enjoy this dream job, which can be precarious and alienating for many others. That is, the passion of a predominantly white-male labor force relies on material inequalities involving the sacrificial labor of their families, unacknowledged work of precarious testers, and thousands of racialized and gendered workers in the Global South. The book explores the politics of doing what one loves. In the context of work, passion and love imply freedom, participation, and choice, but in fact they accelerate self-exploitation and can impose emotional toxicity on other workers by forcing them to work endless hours. The book argues that such ludic discourses in the game industry disguise the racialized and gendered inequalities on which a profitable transnational industry thrives. Within capitalism, work is not just an economic matter, and the political nature of employment and love can still be undemocratic even when based on mutual consent. As the book demonstrates, rather than considering work simply as a matter of economics based on trade-offs in the workplace, we should consider the question of work and love as one of democracy rooted in politics
Aesthetics · Art · Capitalism · Context (archaeology) · Democracy · Dream · Passion · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Work (physics) · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Gender Studies · History · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Economics · Middle east · Social conditions · Video games
Platformisation in game development
Porter la diversité dans un milieu masculin
Images de la diversité, de l’équité et de l’inclusion sur les sites Internet des gros studios de jeux vidéo implantés au Québec
The many complexities of video games
Maximizing Efficiency in Game Development Through Art Styles, AI Integration, and Creative Expression
Neoliberal ideologization of work and the beginning of unionisation in the video game industry
El trabajo soñado. Vocación y sacrificio en la industria del videojuego
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,17 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 7 |