Bestor Dissertation FINAL
Copyright by Nicholas Charles Lyon Bestor 2019 The Dissertation Committee for Nicholas Charles Lyon Bestor Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Dissertation: Playing in Licensed Storyworlds: Games, Franchises, and Fans Committee: Suzanne Scott, Supervisor Alisa H. Perren Thomas G. Schatz Paul Booth Playing in Licensed Storyworlds: Games, Franchises, and Fans by Nicholas Charles Lyon Bestor Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2019 Acknowledgements First and foremost, I wish to thank to my parents, Vickey and Ted Bestor, for their love and support. I would also like to thank the members of my committee, Alisa Perren, Tom Schatz, Paul Booth, and especially my advisor Suzanne Scott, who provided such wonderful guidance and feedback to help me finish this. I also am immensely grateful to all the players who were so eager to participate in my research—without your insights, none of this would have been possible. And finally, I would like to thank all my friends for their support over the years, including the amazing members of my graduate cohort: Morgan, Jackie, Lucia, Julian, Jinsook, Sara, and Alexis. iv Abstract Playing in Licensed Storyworlds: Games, Franchises, and Fans Nicholas Charles Lyon Bestor, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2019 Supervisor: Suzanne Scott Licensed games—analog or digital games that are made under contract using pre-existing intellectual properties—bring together the narrative trajectories of their storyworld, the production histories of their creation, the affective traces of their fandoms, and the interpersonal dynamics of their play.
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