DOCSLIB.ORG

Game Design's Influence on Purchase Motivations in Call of Duty

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Game Design's Influence on Purchase Motivations in Call of Duty GAME DESIGN’S INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS IN CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Why players purchase goods based on the design of games Johann Young Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Date of submission: 6/4/2020 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor’s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus GAME DESIGN’S INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS IN CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Why players purchase goods based on the design of games Johann Young Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Date of submission: 6/4/2020 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor’s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus AALTO UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BACHELOR’S THESIS Mikkeli Campus Author: Johann Young Title of thesis: Game Designs’ Influence on Purchase Motivations in Call of Duty: Warzone Date: 9 April 2021 Degree: Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration Supervisor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Objectives The main objectives of this study were to understand the elements of game design that affect the purchases of non-functional in-game content. An additional objective was to focus on the Games-as-a-service business model and how its structure influenced game design. Summary Games-as-a-service games have become increasingly popular within the video game industry, with one example of this being the battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone. Research has been completed on various aspects of the industry, but not much research has been conducted on the design of games that utilize the Games-as-a-service model. Interviews based on Hamari’s (2015) research model were held to examine purchase influences in players. Results indicated that factors such as enjoyment of the core service, continuous use intentions of the core service, attitudes towards microtransactions, and subjective norms towards microtransactions all played a role when discussing game designs influence in purchase motivation. Conclusions Design elements utilized in how content is offered were the most significant factor in game design's influence on purchases, primarily through the creation of artificial scarcity and limited promotion of content. However, design elements, such as the design of the content itself was also considered to influence purchases. Key words: microtransactions, games-as-a-service, game design, virtual goods See: http://web.lib.aalto.fi/en/helevoc/pdf/ Language: English Grade: Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION: GAME DESIGN IN TRANSITION ..................................................... 1 1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Problem ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Objectives ..................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Definitions ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Structure of Thesis ......................................................................................................... 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Video Game Business Models .................................................................................... 6 2.3 Microtransactions ........................................................................................................ 10 2.4 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 14 2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 15 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 18 3.2 Interview Design ........................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 20 3.4 Research Ethics ........................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 21 4. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................ 23 4.1 Perceived enjoyment of the core service .............................................................. 24 4.2 Continuous use intentions of the core service .................................................... 27 4.3 Subjective norms towards microtransactions ..................................................... 29 4.4 Attitude towards microtransactions ....................................................................... 33 4.5 Synthesis of findings .................................................................................................. 36 4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 39 5. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 42 5.1 Motivators for in-game purchases........................................................................... 42 5.2 Game designs influence on in-game purchases ................................................. 43 5.3 Influence of GaaS on in-game purchases ............................................................. 45 5.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 45 6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 48 6.1 Main Findings ................................................................................................................ 48 6.2 Implications for International Business ................................................................. 50 6.3 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 50 6.4 Suggestions for further research ............................................................................. 51 Reference list ............................................................................................................................ 52 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 57 1. INTRODUCTION: GAME DESIGN IN TRANSITION 1.1 Background Since 2002, the video game industry has doubled the revenue of both the music and film industry combined, reaching total revenue of 159.3 Billion dollars in 2020 (LPE, 2019, Newzoo, 2020). For the longest time, publishers in the industry relied on the more traditional business model of pay-to-play, where players would pay a set amount to gain access to the full game (Marchand and Thurau, 2013). The video game industry has begun to focus more on monetization, with new business models replacing the traditional pay-to-play model. How the design of games that utilize these business models motivates players to purchase in-game content needs to be researched. While the more standard business model of pay-to-play is still used, there has been a significant shift towards free-to-play and games-as-a-service. While these models allow players to access their games for free, various in-game purchases are available for players to buy. These business models have been predominantly successful in the mobile gaming market as most of the games in the top 300 apps in Apple's App Store utilize a free-to-play model (Chua et al., 2019). However, while mobile gaming is where the models found their initial success, they have also implemented them in AAA games. The ethics of the purchases offered in these business models have been put into question by researchers such as Heimo et al. (2016). However, some argue that they are offered for players with less time to play (Nieslsen, 2018), while others find them unethical for players who do not buy them (Hamari et al., 2017). Nonetheless, the implementation of free-to- play and GaaS models has been successful and continues to appear within the industry. In-game purchases, better known as microtransactions, can be classified into two categories: functional or non-functional (Chua et al., 2019). Functional microtransactions are items that directly affect the gameplay of a game by either speeding up progression within the game or increasing a player's attributes (ibid). Non-functional items, better known as cosmetic items, do not affect how the game is played and are simply there to change a visual aspect of the game, be it the player's avatar or their environment (ibid). 1 For this thesis, there will be a focus on non-functional
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Redeye-Gaming-Guide-2020.Pdf
    REDEYE GAMING GUIDE 2020 GAMING GUIDE 2020 Senior REDEYE Redeye is the next generation equity research and investment banking company, specialized in life science and technology. We are the leading providers of corporate broking and corporate finance in these sectors. Our clients are innovative growth companies in the nordics and we use a unique rating model built on a value based investment philosophy. Redeye was founded 1999 in Stockholm and is regulated by the swedish financial authority (finansinspektionen). THE GAMING TEAM Johan Ekström Tomas Otterbeck Kristoffer Lindström Jonas Amnesten Head of Digital Senior Analyst Senior Analyst Analyst Entertainment Johan has a MSc in finance Tomas Otterbeck gained a Kristoffer Lindström has both Jonas Amnesten is an equity from Stockholm School of Master’s degree in Business a BSc and an MSc in Finance. analyst within Redeye’s tech- Economic and has studied and Economics at Stockholm He has previously worked as a nology team, with focus on e-commerce and marketing University. He also studied financial advisor, stockbroker the online gambling industry. at MBA Haas School of Busi- Computing and Systems and equity analyst at Swed- He holds a Master’s degree ness, University of California, Science at the KTH Royal bank. Kristoffer started to in Finance from Stockholm Berkeley. Johan has worked Institute of Technology. work for Redeye in early 2014, University, School of Business. as analyst and portfolio Tomas was previously respon- and today works as an equity He has more than 6 years’ manager at Swedbank Robur, sible for Redeye’s website for analyst covering companies experience from the online equity PM at Alfa Bank and six years, during which time in the tech sector with a focus gambling industry, working Gazprombank in Moscow he developed its blog and on the Gaming and Gambling in both Sweden and Malta as and as hedge fund PM at community and was editor industry.
    [Show full text]
  • Loot Boxes in Video Games - Call for Evidence
    Loot Boxes in Video Games - Call for Evidence The Gambling Health Alliance (GHA) is a coalition of 50 organisations and individuals with a shared interest in reducing the damage caused to health and wellbeing from gambling. The secretariat is provided by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH). The objective of the Alliance is to support policy-making to address the social, economic and cultural factors that contribute to gambling harm and the inequalities in health caused by it. We do this by highlighting gambling-related harm, engaging with policy makers, and promoting evidence that can be translated into reducing gambling harms. We welcome the Government’s plans to make the UK the safest place to be online in the world, and believe that tackling problems linked to loot boxes in video games would make a major contribution. We are therefore very pleased to respond to this consultation, and alongside our response we will be launching a campaign, ‘#LidOnLoots’, calling for loot boxes to be classed as a form of gambling. The campaign has been developed following discussion with our members who have agreed that loot boxes are a major problem and should be the focus of the GHA’s work. This response is primarily based upon data from the 2019 RSPH report Skins in the Game; research was conducted from November 2018 to November 2019 through six in-depth focus groups with young people held in England, Scotland and Wales, followed by an online survey of 1,025 11-24 year olds (from here referred to as ‘RSPH research’).
    [Show full text]
  • Hardware & Esports at the Core Of
    Hardware & Esports at the Core of 1. The mobile gaming 4 opportunity 2. Immersion and competition are key 9 trends 3. Hardware facilitates 20 and drives mobile trends Fast-rising hardware capabilities facilitate new game formats COMPETITIVE FREE-TO-PLAY Competitive mobile games and mobile esports MULTIPLAYER GAMES AS A SERVICE continue to rise in popularity, taking an increasing share of gamers’ time and money. With new cross- IMPROVED platform innovations, mobile gamers now have the HARDWARE possibility to play and compete directly with PC and IMMERSIVE console gamers. At the same time, mobile games SINGLE PLAYER SPECIFICATIONS have become more immersive, offering realistic and engrossing game environments and experiences. The convergence of these two trends, made possible by fast-rising hardware capabilities, has paved the way MAXIMUM for new game genres such as battle royale to emerge GAMING and thrive. EXPERIENCE In this report, we explore the mobile gaming opportunity and how the desire for increasingly core, competitive, and sophisticated experiences on mobile has led hardware brands such as Razer and Asus to release dedicated mobile gaming devices. PAY-TO-PLAY © 2018 NEWZOO GAMES AS A PRODUCT MAXIMUM VIEWING JELLE KOOISTRA EXPERIENCE Head of Market Analysts © Newzoo 2018 3 1. THE MOBILE GAMING OPPORTUNITY Global games market revenue forecast | Per device and segment MOBILE PC $70.3Bn $32.9Bn +25.5% YoY +1.6% YoY 3% 24% TABLET GAMES 10% BROWSER PC GAMES $13.9Bn 21% $4.3Bn Mobile games will account for +13.1% YoY -13.9% YoY 2018 TOTAL BOXED/ (SMART)PHONE 51% $137.9Bn DOWNLOADED GAMES PC GAMES +13.3% of the global $56.4Bn 41% YoY $28.6Bn games market this year.
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Distribution and Games As a Service
    Science and Technology Law Review Volume 16 Number 1 Article 14 2013 Digital Distribution and Games as a Service Marco Mereu Patrick Hudson Steve Nix J. J. Richards Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/scitech Recommended Citation Marco Mereu et al., Digital Distribution and Games as a Service, 16 SMU SCI. & TECH. L. REV. 25 (2013) https://scholar.smu.edu/scitech/vol16/iss1/14 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Science and Technology Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. Digital Distribution and Games as a Service SYMPOSIUM PANEL I Panelists Mr. Marco Mereu, uCool Mr. Patrick Hudson, Robot Entertainment Mr. Steve Nix, GameStop Mr. JJ Richards, MOGA Dean John Attanasio: Good morning. My name is John Attanasio, and I am Dean of the SMU Dedman School of Law.' It is my pleasure to welcome you here this morn- ing. The law school has a very rich intellectual life, not only in the class- room, but also outside the classroom. On January 28-29, 2013, Justice Antonin Scalia visited SMU as a Dis- tinguished Jurist in Residence.2 Our own Professor Bryan Garner joined him on January 28 in presenting their book3 to a sold-out audience.4 This is our fifth time doing this event. It is one of my favorite events of the year, in part because it is always a very rich conference, but mostly because I am an avid gamer myself.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Preprint
    THE DOTA 2 BATTLE PASS 1 The Dota 2 Battle Pass: prevalence, consumption, and attitudes of a player community towards a growing type of video game monetisation. Elena Petrovskaya and David Zendle, Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, United Kingdom. Author Note Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Elena Petrovskaya, email: [email protected]; telephone: +447817801339; address: Empire House, New Road, London, E1 1HH. THE DOTA 2 BATTLE PASS 2 Abstract As the profit model in the video game industry shifts from upfront payment to continuous exposure to in-game microtransactions, new forms of monetisation are on the rise. One such example is battle passes: time-limited content which provides players with an opportunity to access rewards not available within the main body of the game. In this paper, we apply a mixed- methods approach to conduct an in-depth examination of the Battle Pass feature in Dota 2. We consider 1) quantitatively, the prevalence of the Battle Pass within the Dota 2 player community, and 2) qualitatively, player attitudes towards this feature. Quantitative findings show that, despite the rising profitability of the Battle Pass, its presence has minimal effect on player uptake in Dota 2. Qualitative findings indicate complex player attitudes in which positive views on the Battle Pass contrast with concerns over elitism and difficulty in achieving rewards without spending money. Keywords: microtransactions, in-game purchases, video games, esports, battle passes. THE DOTA 2 BATTLE PASS 3 Introduction Video game monetisation is undergoing a shift. Video game publishers historically treated individual games as marketable products, and made profits from the sale of copies of these games themselves (Lizardi, 2012).
    [Show full text]
  • Emerging Trends in Games-As-A-Service
    Emerging Trends in Games-as-a-Service Atul Bagga Senior Research Analyst, Lazard Capital Markets Agenda • Games-as-a-Service – Lines blurring between platforms; Tablets, Set-top boxes – Innovation by startups • Virtual Goods – Perfect Price Discrimination – Enhance Community/Curb Piracy – Higher quality of earning (a) Predictability, (b) Lifetime Value • Social Games – Vertical Games – Monetization (a) Conversion, (b) Advertising – Platforms dedicated for games • Mobile Games – Rise of persistent games – Mobile an extension of other platforms – Dominated by a few? Agenda • Games-as-a-Service – Lines blurring between platforms; Tablets, Set-top boxes – Innovation by startups • Virtual Goods – Perfect Price Discrimination – Enhance Community/Curb Piracy – Higher quality of earning (a) Predictability, (b) Lifetime Value • Social Games – Vertical Games – Monetization (a) Conversion, (b) Advertising – Platforms dedicated for games • Mobile Games – Rise of persistent games – Mobile an extension of other platforms – Dominated by a few? Top Companies By Revenue CAGR (2008-2010) 4 Top Companies By Revenue CAGR (2008-2010) 80% Gree Inc. 70% DeNA Co. Ltd. Zoo Entertainment Inc. 60% Gamevil Inc. Perfect World Co. Ltd. 50% mixi Inc. 40% NHN Corp. NetDragon Websoft Inc. 30% Tencent Holdings Ltd. 20% Neowiz Games Corp. Revenue CAGR (2008-2010) CAGR Revenue NCsoft Corp. 10% Netease.com Inc. ADS Changyou.com Ltd. 0% Kingsoft Corp. Ltd. 0% 20% 40% 60% Gameloft S.A. EBIT Margin Source: FactSet 5 Enterprise Value/Sales Multiple U.S. Video Game Companies Shares
    [Show full text]
  • How Functional and Aesthetic Virtual Goods Influence the Purchase Motivations and Attitudes
    HOW FUNCTIONAL AND AESTHETIC VIRTUAL GOODS INFLUENCE THE PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES Joel Hellsten International Business Bachelor's Thesis Supervisor: Suzanne Altobello Date of approval: 8 April 2019 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor´s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus HOW FUNCTIONAL AND AESTHETIC VIRTUAL GOODS INFLUENCE THE PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS AND ATTITUDES Joel Hellsten International Business Bachelor's Thesis Supervisor: Suzanne Altobello Date of approval: 8 April 2019 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor´s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus AALTO UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BACHELOR’S THESIS Mikkeli Campus Author: Joel Hellsten Title of thesis: How Functional and Aesthetic Virtual Goods Impact The Purchase Motivations and Attitudes Date: 8 April 2019 Degree: Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration Supervisor: Suzanne Altobello Objectives The main objectives of this study were to examine the differences functional and aesthetic virtual goods have on motivations behind virtual good purchases. In addition, this study examined the differences in attitudes towards functional and aesthetic virtual goods. Summary The subject of virtual goods and purchases has been widely studied in recent years. However, most of the studies fail to distinguish the different type of virtual goods and their individual qualities that have an impact on the purchase decision making process. A questionnaire based on previous literature (Hamari et al. 2017) was conducted to examine these differences. The results show that when functional and aesthetic virtual goods are examined separately the motivations and reasons behind purchase decision vary significantly. In addition, the study reveals that the different types of virtual goods face different attitudes.
    [Show full text]
  • Pay to Play: Video Game Monetization Patents and the Doctrine of Moral Utility
    GEORGETOWN LAW TECHNOLOGY REVIEW PAY TO PLAY: VIDEO GAME MONETIZATION PATENTS AND THE DOCTRINE OF MORAL UTILITY Kirk A. Sigmon* CITE AS: 5 GEO. L. TECH. REV. 72 (2021) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 72 II. THE GROWING COST OF VIDEO GAMES ................................................. 74 III. CONTROVERSIAL VIDEO GAME PATENTS ON DLC AND MICROTRANSACTIONS ................................................................................... 81 IV. THE CONTROVERSY BEHIND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DLC AND MICROTRANSACTIONS ................................................................................... 86 V. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PATENTS AND “MORAL UTILITY” ........................ 89 VI. WHY MORAL UTILITY SHOULD NOT BE REVIVED FOR VIDEO GAMES .. 94 VII. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................... 98 I. INTRODUCTION Video games are now more complex and realistic than they ever have been—but making those games is not cheap. Video game development and marketing costs are sky high.1 To help recoup these costs, game developers and publishers have begun inventing increasingly clever ways to encourage users to spend more money on video games—and they are pursuing patents for those inventions. One recently granted patent seeks to drive in-game purchases by making multiplayer matches difficult for a player, encouraging that player to buy an item and, once that item is purchased and used, subtly rewarding the spending by making multiplayer matches easier.2 Another recently granted patent targets players more likely to spend money in-game by presenting them with exclusive spending opportunities, maximizing value * Shareholder, Banner Witcoff. Thanks to Ross A. Dannenberg, Scott M. Kelly, and Carlos Goldie for their invaluable input and assistance with this Article. 1 See infra Part II. 2 See U.S. Patent No. 9,789,406 (filed Oct. 17, 2017) [hereinafter Marr].
    [Show full text]
  • The Business of Video Games Report
    The Business of Video Games Report About DFC Intelligence’s The Business of Video Games Report The Business of Video Games report consists of two pdf documents 1) a 140-slide presentation created in Microsoft PowerPoint and 2) a 180-page report created in Microsoft Word. These documents each contain very different looks at the game industry but use the same set of underlying data and key assumptions. As a business overview, this report does not focus heavily on raw numbers and data. Instead it is a more qualitative analysis of the game industry providing context around major historical and anticipated trends. DFC Intelligence provides plenty of industry data and detailed forecasts but it is important that those forecasts do not exist in a vacuum. The data only tells part of the story and this report looks to fill in the story behind the data. This report is a designed to provide a high-level overview of the general game industry size and how the game industry works across its entire value chain. There is a focus on the role of major industry players from hardware manufacturers to distributors and content developers. A great deal of the focus is on who makes the money when a consumer buys a video game. Published by DFC Intelligence www.dfcint.com 858.834.4340 1 ©2018 DFC Intelligence. The Business of Video Games Report The Business of Video Games PowerPoint Summary • PowerPoint Outline – Executive Summary (Slides 3-10): An overview of market size and general segmentation – Industry Value Chain (Slides 11-15): This is a high level introduction
    [Show full text]
  • Policy Paper the Case for Uniform Loot Box Regulation: a New Classification Typology and Reform Agenda
    Journal of Gambling Issues http://igi.camh.net/doi/pdf/10.4309/jgi.2021.46.15 Volume 46, February 2021 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4309/jgi.2021.46.15 policy paper The Case for Uniform Loot Box Regulation: A New Classification Typology and Reform Agenda Stephanie Derrington,1 Shaun Star,2,3 & Sarah J. Kelly1 1 UQ Business School, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2 Jindal Global Law School, Sonipat, India 3 TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland Australia Abstract The recent exponential increase in the presence of loot boxes and other forms of microtransactions in online games, together with the consequential development of a ‘‘token economy,’’ have created regulatory challenges around the world. The similarities between loot boxes and traditional forms of gambling give rise to serious and long-term psychological and financial risks, particularly among a largely minor, vulnerable audience. Regulators must, therefore, decide whether loot boxes and microtransactions should be addressed in the same manner as traditional gambling activities. Recognizing that the legal definition of gambling is a policy matter for different legislatures, this paper proposes a new classification framework for loot boxes and microtransactions that could be adopted as a guide by regulators and gaming publishers operating in the global, hyper-connected landscape of online gaming. The framework is designed to assist policy makers to achieve consumer welfare goals while also not unduly restricting the ability of adult consumers to make informed decisions as to when they participate in gambling-like activities or inappropriately interfering with the legitimate commercial endeavors of game developers.
    [Show full text]
  • Relationships Between Game Genre, Business Model and Loot Box Opening
    The Games We Play: Relationships between game genre, business model and loot box opening Joseph Macey1 and Juho Hamari1, 2 1 Gamification Group, Faculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, Finland. [email protected] 2 Gamification Group, Faculty of Humanities, University of Turku, 20500 Turku, Finland. [email protected] Abstract. The use of loot boxes is endemic in contemporary games, having originated in the free-to-play games of China and Japan they are now a common feature in almost every type of business model and genre. Primarily used to increase monetisation they are not without controversy as they have been accused of driving a “pay-to-win” approach to gaming and have even been linked to the development of problematic gambling behaviours. Considering the fact that there are a huge range of disparate practices connected to loot boxes, and that loot boxes are present in all forms of contemporary games this research asks the following question: Which business models and game genres, if any, are associated with increased opening of paid loot boxes? We employed survey data (N=613) gathered among gamers. We can conclude that loot boxes seem to be pervasive across games and there is no strong evidence that any business model of genre would clearly predict loot box opening activities and that players of all kinds of games probably encounter them in the gaming activities one way or the other. However, we can also conclude that loot box opening activities seems to be most strongly connected with both the retail and free-to-play business models as well as the shooter game genre.
    [Show full text]
  • The Video Games Market How Has the Video Games Market Evolved Over the Last Few Years? Easier to Play in Short Bursts, When Time Allows
    Edison Explains The video games market How has the video games market evolved over the last few years? easier to play in short bursts, when time allows. This has helped drive a proliferation of smaller teams of ‘indie’ How is the video games developers alongside the established players. industry organised? Finally, supported by the digital model, the concept of The games industry is diverse and community-centric games-as-a-service (GaaS) has caught sprawling, having been globalised hold. and swept along by mobile and digital waves over the past 20 years. GaaS sees a title released into a playing community that gives constant feedback to that community, with a This has introduced some complexity to the traditional developer responsive to the needs of the community and model. Even so, games companies are still commonly split its preferences. This responsiveness provides support for between developers (content creators), publishers an initial release with additional paid-for downloadable (finance, marketing and promotion) and distributors (high content, extending the lifetime and revenues of the game. street and online retail). Is the video games industry still subject to Most larger studios develop and publish games, handling its traditional console cycle? the entirety of game production. As ventures have grown larger, outsourcing specialists such as Keywords Studios, The games industry has traditionally been resilient to Moonwalk Audio and Sumo Group have grown to support broader macroeconomic cycles, but has been subject to its more complex projects. own console cycle. As for retail, digitisation has split the sector into online The console cycle, typically six to eight years long, is the platforms and bricks-and-mortar stores.
    [Show full text]