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Game Developers Conference: Ethnography in the Game Studio

Posted by: Casey O'Donnell on March 28, 2013 in Presentations Comments Off on Game Developers Conference: Ethnography in the Game Studio 3,265 views 0

Ethnography in the Game Studio

I spoke at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) on March 28, 2013, presenting two different poster sessions to the crowd.

Poster Title:
Ethnography in the Game Development Studio?

Abstract:
What the hell is ethnography anyway and why should game developers care? This session introduces methods and concepts from anthropology for use as a tool to better understand game development practice. Postmortems are often too little too late and neglect all the things development teams have forgotten along the way. From small to large teams, small changes can improve our understanding of our craft. This session explores these, as well as how other organizations like IBM and Intel have used ethnography to better understand their organizations.

About Casey O'Donnell

Casey O'Donnell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Information at Michigan State University. He is part of the games faculty and Games for Entertainment and Learning (GEL) lab at MSU. He is also part of the game development collective Affinity Games. His research examines the creative collaborative work of videogame design and development. This research examines the cultural and collaborative dynamics that occur in both professional "AAA" organizations and formal and informal "independent" game development communities. His research has spanned game development companies from the United States to India. His research examines issues of work, production, copyright, as well as third world and postcolonial aspects of the videogame development workplace.

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