This Is Not a Software Industry

Abstract:
This chapter examines why understanding the video game industry and video game production simply as “software,” from an industry, production or cultural perspective, neglects numerous important aspects of each. The chapter draws on significant and sustained ethnographic research amongst game developers. The chapter interrogates the historical foundations that likely led to such a classification and how those perspectives have changed as the game industry has matured. The work, industry and play of video games all point to the unique aspects of the video game industry and the importance of understanding the phenomenon on its own terms.

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Citation:
O’Donnell, C. (2012). This Is Not a Software Industry. In P. Zackariasson & T. L. Wilson (Eds.), The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State and Future (pp. 17-33). New York, NY: Routledge.