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UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Electronic Theses and Dissertations UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Barbara Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title An Industry of Indies: The New Cultural Economy of Digital Game Production Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9vc0q914 Author Vanderhoef, John Publication Date 2016 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara An Industry of Indies: The New Cultural Economy of Digital Game Production A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Media Studies by John Robert Vanderhoef II Committee in charge: Professor Michael Curtin, Co-Chair Professor Anna Everett, Co-Chair Professor Constance Penley Professor Lisa Parks Professor Alenda Chang Professor Matthew T. Payne September 2016 The dissertation of John Robert Vanderhoef II is approved. _____________________________________________________ Alenda Chang _____________________________________________________ Matthew T. Payne _____________________________________________________ Lisa Parks _____________________________________________________ Constance Penley _____________________________________________________ Anna Everett, Committee Co-Chair _____________________________________________________ Michael Curtin, Committee C-Chair June 2016 An Industry of Indies: The New Cultural Economy of Digital Game Production Copyright © 2016 by John Vanderhoef iii PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Like any scholarly work, this dissertation is the result of years of collaboration, mentorship, and guidance by many talented and generous people. First, I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, Michael Curtin, Anna Everett, Matthew T. Payne, Lisa Parks, Constance Penley, and Alenda Chang for their intellectual and material support throughout my time at UCSB and while engaged with this project. Each has contributed invaluable suggestions and resources that have enriched the project in ways both profound and subtle. I have had the opportunity to take many classes at UCSB as a PhD student. Each and every professor I have had the privilege of studying under has helped shape me as a scholar and inspired aspects of this project. Some professors I did not study under, but instead encountered through department socializing, organized events, or through other facets of academic life. These professors offered valuable advice or – and this cannot be overstated – a friendly conversation to ease the anxiety that graduate school often evokes. While many of these professors ended up on my committee, and I will not relist them here, I want to provide a brief litany of equally outstanding scholars who have offered me support and encouragement over the last few years: Janet Walker; Jennifer Holt; Charles Wolfe; Ross Melnick; Peter Bloom; Anna Brusutti; Bhaskar Sarkar; Greg Siegel; Cynthia Felando; and Dick Hebdige. In particular, Kevin Sanson, who I worked closely with for a few years on the Media Industries Project, was an enormously generous boss, colleague, and friend. Before one can run, one has to walk. With this in mind, my time at UCSB would not have been possible without the support of my master’s thesis committee at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Thanks to Barbara Ley for helping me get to where I am today. Michael Z. Newman has remained a close friend and, in fact, offered me the chance to iv produce the first of many co-authored publications way back in 2012. I especially want to thank Elana Levine for seeing something in an intellectually precocious poet 10 years ago, in 2006, while I was enrolled in her Introduction to Media Studies course at UW-Milwaukee. While I was not quite the model student, Elana still encouraged me to pursue a career in media studies, rather than creative writing, and remains a close friend and mentor today. Surviving in graduate school is almost impossible without a group of supportive colleagues with whom you can share your victories and defeats – and maybe a drink or two. These people have all been exceptional in this regard: Greg Burris; Maria Corrigan; David Gray; Regina Longo; Bianka Ballina Calderon; Alexander Champlin; Alston D’Silva; Rachel Fabian; Hannah Goodwin; Daniel Grinberg; Lisa Han; Jennifer Hessler; Abigail Hinsman; Wesley Jacks; Carlos Jimenez; Lan Xuan Le; Juan Llamas-Rodriguez; Steve Malcic; Rahul Mukherjee; Bhargavi Narayanan; Lindsay Palmer; Jade Petermon; Dan Reynolds; Noah Zweig; Diana Pozo; Athena Tan; Corrigan Vaugn; and Thong Win. I would like to thank Janet Walker for her role in guiding the initial proposal for this project in a course dedicated to that task, and I would also like to thank Steven Malcic, Alston D’Silva, and Greg Burris. Along with Janet’s sagely guidance, we shared in the sometimes painful process of writing original research proposals. Every research project is overdetermined with its influences. With this in mind, I want to briefly list just a fraction of the amazing scholars not acknowledged so far that I have had the chance to meet in person and who have personally influenced my scholarship. Unfortunately, due to the nature of these things, many worthy names have been omitted. If you are one of them, please accept my sincere apologies: Karen Petruska; Melanie Swallwell; v Jaroslav Svelch; Adrienne Shaw; Amanda Phillips; Shira Chess; Carly A Kocurek; Jennifer deWinter; Judd Ruggill; Ken Mcallister; Felan Parker; Jessica Aldred; and Harrison Gish. I would be remiss not to thank my parents and my sisters, if for no other reason than they have been putting up with me for the past 31 years. They do not always understand the work that I do, but they remain supportive. I can only marvel at their unconditional love. Without a doubt, I am compelled to extend a humble thanks to my partner in crime, Erin Lennon, who always believes in me more than I believe in myself. While I am not always convinced, there is great comfort in this. I am blessed to have the support of every member of my dissertation committee, including my wonderful co-chair, Anna Everett, but I want to especially recognize Michael Curtin for providing me with numerous opportunities for intellectual and professional growth over the last several years. Graduate school can be a very isolating experience and not every student is lucky enough to have strong mentors. I have been lucky enough to have several, but Michael has gone above and beyond the call of duty in his role as mentor and co-chair. Solidarity. vi VITA OF JOHN ROBERT VANDERHOEF II September 2016 EDUCATION 2016 Ph.D., Film and Media Studies, UC-Santa Barbara (expected) 2010 M.A., Media Studies, UW-Milwaukee 2008 B.A. Journalism/Creative Writing, UW-Milwaukee (Magna Cum Laude) PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT 2015 Lecturer, Film Department, Santa Barbara City College 2015 Lecturer, Communications Department, California State University – Dominguez Hills 2014-2015 Teaching Associate, Department of Film and Media Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 2013 Teaching Assistant, Department of Film and Media Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara 2012-2014 Graduate Student Researcher, Carsey-Wolf Center’s Media Industries Project 2010-2011 Instructor, UW-Milwaukee Upward Bound Summer Program 2008-2010 Teaching Assistant, Department of Journalism, Public Relations, and Media Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee SELECT PUBLICATIONS 2016 “Creative Labor in Cinema and Media Industries,” co-authored with Michael Curtin and Kevin Sanson. In Oxford Bibliographies in Cinema and Media Studies. Ed. Krin Gabbard. New York: Oxford University Press. 2016 “The Crunch Heard Round the World: The Global Era of Digital Game Labor,” co- authored with Michael Curtin, in Production Studies: The Sequel, edited by Bridget Conor, Miranda Banks, and Vicki Mayer (New York: Routledge), 196-209. 2015 “A Vanishing Piece of the Pi: The Globalization of Visual Effects Labor,” co- authored with Michael Curtin. TV & New Media 16(3): 219-239. 2014 “TV that Watches You: Data Collection and the Connected Living Room,” co- authored with Karen Petruska. Spectator 34(2): 33-42. 2014 “Masculinity,” co-authored with Michael Z. Newman, in Routledge Companion to Video Game Studies, edited by Mark J.P. Wolf and Bernard Perron (New York, Routledge), 380-387. 2013 “Magic Disguised as Technology: Microsoft’s Kinect, Gender, and Domestic Space.” Media Fields Journal (7): http://mediafieldsjournal.squarespace.com/magic-disguised-as-technology/ 2013 “Casual Threats: The Feminization of Casual Video Games.” Ada: Journal of Gender, New Media, and Technology 1(2): http://adanewmedia.org/2013/06/issue2- vanderhoef/ vii ABSTRACT An Industry of Indies: The New Cultural Economy of Digital Game Production by John Robert Vanderhoef II An Industry of Indies builds upon foundational questions concerned with the constitution, operations, changes, disruptions, and borders of the global digital games industry. Although scholars have engaged with the dynamics of the video game industry, few have analyzed the emergence of indie games over the last decade and the impact of these small games on the always already shifting terrain of this industry. During this period, the video game industry has been confronting a wave of changes wrought by continually emerging technologies, player expectations, and a generation of small game developers who have challenged particular industry practices and dogmas, even as they also provide value to the industry’s largest video game publishers and platform
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