Working for Play COM 327 February 4, 2014

QUIZ!!

1.What does IGDA stand for (in the Dyer- Witheford and de Peuter article)? a)Independent Game Design Academy b)Integrated Graphic Design for Artists c)International Game Developers’ Association d)Inconspicuous Guy Doing Aerobics

2. Invisible labor refers to what kinds of work? a) Whatever ninjas do b) Work that can only be seen through a telescope c) Domestic work (childcare, cleaning) that people in the games industry are too busy for d) The role of artificial intelligence in games

3. According to Julian Kücklich, “the perception of modding as ____ is the basis of the exploitative relationship between modders and the games industry.” a) easy b) play c) profitable d) rare

4. Kücklich offers a variety of reasons for why the games industry is able to continue to exploit the game modding community. Which of the following is NOT a reason? a) game modding is seen as a form of play, and not a ‘real’ form of labor b) the modding community is too dispersed c) the EULAs for most games specify that mods belong to the company (not the modder) d) game modders are shy

BONUS. Why do video game companies see North Carolina as a great place to set up operations? a) access to university graduates in tech-related fields b) favorable tax breaks from the government c) anti-union laws d) all of the above

1. Recap from last week – group work 2. Group presentation!! 1. Different forms of “playbor”

Groups of 4 (Re-assemble to get your stories straight) Choose a product 1.Who makes this? 2.Who is it targeted to (pictures/links to ads)? 3.Who/what owns this? 4.What else do they own? 5.Where are their “head offices” located? Where is their production located? 6.What labor-related issues / stories / scandals has this company been linked to in the past few years (pictures/links)?

GROUP PRESENTATION!

Dyer-Witheford & de Peuter talk about exploitive work conditions inside the games industry Kücklich talks about exploitive relations between the games industry and fans Why do we care about this? Adorno & Horkheimer describe a society in which the “cultural industries” help us become more docile & willing workers and more active consumers Video games represent the cutting edge of a society in which our leisure actively creates value for the cultural industries

Forms of “playbor” 1. Modding 2. Gold farming 1. E-sports

“Modding” = MODifying an existing game Skyrim

“Modding” = MODifying an existing game Skyrim, modded

What do mods do? Provide new characters, enemies, mechanics, levels, interface improvements, artwork, storylines for existing games; players can write mods, publish them, install them & play them. What economic purposes do mods serve? From Kücklich: 1. Help build the game’s brand 2. Add to the product’s longevity 3. Increase customer loyalty 4. Important source of innovation

“The precarious status of modding as a form of unpaid labour is veiled by the perception of modding as a leisure activity, or simply as an extension of play” (Kücklich) “this process manages to harness a skilled labour force for little or no initial cost and represents an emerging form of labour exploitation on the Internet” (Postigo, 2003) “It’s just play”

Hector Postigo (2007): how much would it have cost for the games industry to pay modders for the 39 biggest first-person shooter mods in 2005? In other words – how much FREE LABOR is represented by these 39 mods? $10 to 30 million dollars (for these 39 mods, in 2005) As of February 3, Skyrim’s biggest modding website had 31,442 mods available for download The value of that labor is in the billions. For one game.

‘Playbor’ #2: Gold farming Applies to massive multiplayer online games (MMOGs) like World of Warcraft and Guild Wars 2 Repeatedly visiting the same area and killing computer-controlled enemies in order to accumulate in-game currency & equipment ALL online games involve ‘farming’ Becomes controversial when players sell currency for real world $$

MMOGs are designed to encourage repetitive and mundane activities:

YouTube search for “Guild Wars 2 gold farm” Everyone who plays online role-playing games ‘farms’ But people who sell their gold for real $$ are viewed as ‘cheaters’ who destroy the economy

“Chinese gold farmers”

“racialized labor” & global inequality “Play”: Western players are outsourcing their ‘farming’ to Chinese gold farmers “Work”: Western businesses are outsourcing their jobs to Chinese factories The only difference: one is more “precarious” than the other.

Chinese immigration to US intensified in 1850’s Chinese laundry outlets opened up all over the country 1880’s – crash of Western economy + new technologies led to a wave of anti- Chinese resentment

Video games & the gaming industry is a forerunner in the transformations in labor and the globalized media industries 1.“immaterial” labor, like conventional “material” labor, is increasingly outsourced to cheaper nations (gold farming) 2.In North America, work in the media industries is increasingly precarious (Dyer- Witheford & de Peuter – “EA Spouse”) 3.Our leisure activities increasingly take the form of capital-creating, free labor for the media industries (Kücklich – “Precarious Playbor”) Next class: what kinds of work do we do on behalf of social media companies?