Behavioral capital
Gaming and Monetization in Post-Marxist Perspective
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4766500 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Václav Janoščík (0009-0003-8198-1540, The Academy of Fine Arts in Prague , Praha , Czech Republic, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 2023 |
| Issue | 254 |
| Pages | 137-156 |
| Publication date | 2023-09-26 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Semiotica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0037-1998 • E-ISSN: 1613-3692 |
| Publisher | Walter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE) |
| DOI | 10.1515/sem-2023-0124 |
| OpenAlex | W4388046320 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 9 |
The most successful games today do not use a pay-for-product model, but involve complex and aggressive modes of monetizing their content (downloadable content, skins, in game currencies and markets, seasonal passes, etc.). While this has already been scrutinized, there are further consequences for games themselves and the economization of play. In my paper, I show how this strategy creates a conceptually novel situation, where playing can be considered to constitute reproductive labor-power and behavioral capital. In other words, playing here represents not only consumption but also the very production of such consumption, insofar as the main reason behind the massive success of these games is precisely their massive pool of players and data concerning their activity. Firstly, I analyse PUBG: Battlegrounds as an example of the most successful model of monetizing games and maintaining a large number of players and interaction. I focus both on the economic incentives as well as on the gameplay that is generated or tailored towards aggressive monetization. Later, I set a theoretical context for my analysis stemming from ludocapitalist discourse (itself combining Marx with poststructuralism) and the concept of surveillance capitalism. I conclude my text with a systematization and definition of my original concept of behavioral capital and an attempt to formulate art critique and usage of games as a form of cultural production exposing several examples from contemporary art
Advertising · Business · Capital (architecture) · Consumption (sociology) · Context (archaeology) · Economics · Epistemology · Incentive · Marxist philosophy · Microeconomics · Monetization · Neoclassical economics · Perspective (graphical) · Political science · Positive economics · Product (mathematics) · Production (economics) · Set (abstract data type) · Social science · Sociology · Cinema and Media Studies · Computer Science · Contemporary Literature and Criticism · Digital Games and Media · Law · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |