The Political Economy of Computer Game Culture Justin Schumaker University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations August 2018 The Labor of Play: the Political Economy of Computer Game Culture Justin Schumaker University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the Film and Media Studies Commons, Labor Economics Commons, and the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Schumaker, Justin, "The Labor of Play: the Political Economy of Computer Game Culture" (2018). Theses and Dissertations. 1913. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1913 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE LABOR OF PLAY: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMPUTER GAME CULTURE by Justin S. Schumaker A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee August 2018 ABSTRACT THE LABOR OF PLAY: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF COMPUTER GAME CULTURE by Justin S. Schumaker The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2018 Under the Supervision of the Professor Stuart Moulthrop This dissertation questions the relationship between computer game culture and ideologies of neoliberalism and financialization. It questions the role computer games play in cultivating neoliberal practices and how the industry develops games and systems making play and work indistinguishable activities. Chapter 1 examines how computer game inculcate players into neoliberal practice through play. In chapter 2, the project shows Blizzard Entertainment systematically redevelops their games to encourage perpetual play aimed at increasing the consumption of digital commodities and currencies. Chapter 3 considers the role of esports, or professional competitive computer game play, to disperse neoliberal ideologies amongst nonprofessional players. Chapter 4 examines the streaming platform Twitch and the transformation of computer gameplay into a consumable commodity. This chapter examines Twitch’s systems designed at making production and consumption inseparable practices. The dissertation concludes by examining the economic, conceptual, and theoretical collapses threatening game culture and the field of game studies. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures.................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................................v Introduction......................................................................................................................................1 Chapter 1 Building Theoretical Tools for Games and Neoliberal Play...........................................6 Playing with Marx..............................................................................................................11 Rethinking “fun”................................................................................................................13 Games and Economic Close Reading: Offworld Trading Company..................................22 StockStram and “fun$” at Work ........................................................................................28 Chapter 2 Unified Economic Play and Blizzard Entertainment.....................................................30 Blizzard Entertainment at a Glance....................................................................................35 Extending Space of Play with Virtual Worlds....................................................................37 Digital Currency and Blizzard’s Changes...........................................................................41 Blizzard and Real-World Money........................................................................................43 World of Warcraft, the Token, and Initial Connections between Games...........................50 Economic Unification and Playing Between Markets........................................................60 Conclusion: Meditations of a Crisis, or Loot Crates and Fun$...........................................69 Chapter 3 Esports and Playful Work..............................................................................................72 Esports Defined..................................................................................................................76 MOBAs in Focus................................................................................................................79 Class Considerations in Esports.........................................................................................85 League Structures, Tournament Circuits, and Labor Markets...........................................87 Esports Teams and Organizations: Vector Power and Management of Play...................100 Player-Laborer and Playful Work.....................................................................................106 The Professionalization of All Games..............................................................................109 Esports and Fun$..............................................................................................................113 Chapter 4 Twitch: Immaterial Labor, Means of Production, and fun$.........................................115 Twitch and Streaming Defined.........................................................................................116 Visual Consumption, Twitch Apparatus, and Gamification.............................................119 Twitch and Means of Production......................................................................................128 Twitch as a Means of Control...........................................................................................134 Produced Commodities on Twitch and Game Developer Adoption................................142 Twitch, fun$, and “Machinic Enslavement”.....................................................................148 Conclusion: Game Culture, Fun$, and the Collapse of Play.........................................................150 Works Cited.................................................................................................................................158 Curriculum Vitae..........................................................................................................................168 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Offworld Trading Company............................................................................................24 Figure 2. E*Trade Options House Platform....................................................................................26 Figure 3. Valve’s MOBA Dota 2....................................................................................................33 Figure 4. flOm’s Twitch Stream...................................................................................................119 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I want to thank my advisor, Stuart Moulthrop, for his enduring support and recognizing my ability to contribute to the field of game studies. He has constantly encouraged me to develop robust theoretical perspectives and share them through my academic work. I have always recognized his knowledge of my research project, and his constant questioning of my approaches and thinking have made for a more interesting and meaningful project. I thank Annie McClanahan for recognizing my interest in critical economic perspectives and Marxism and encouraging me to diversify my approach to game studies. Much of this project would not be possible without her early and constant support. Thanks to Richard Grusin for showing me how to critique media’s darker side and pushing me to think outside the purview of game studies. I thank Lane Hall and Thomas Malaby for offering their thoughtful commentary and questions that have pushed this project in new directions. A monumental thanks to Scott L. Baugh, who showed me how what we play and what we watch cannot be under explored, and has supported me through countless conversations. My introduction to media studies through his classes inspired me to consider how playing games reframes existing discussions around media. I thank Bridget, Brian, Molly, and Peter for their support these last few years. They were irreplaceable members of a necessary support system. Thanks are due to Gordon and Louisa for their persistent encouragement and effort to keep me accountable. Thanks to Steve and Ginny for their support and offering me a quiet place to write. I thank my mother, Laura, and her partner, Erik, for their constant support throughout my graduate studies. While they may not have understood what I was doing or why, I hope they are excited that I finished a weird project about games and money. v Finally, I dedicate this project to my wife, Kaitlin. Without her, this would not have been possible. Her support throughout this process has been unwavering. At every step, she has ensured my success; thank you for all that you have done and allowed. vi Introduction In 2014, during one of many personal returns to World of Warcraft (Blizzard 2006), I was regularly completing daily quests, tasks the game would set forth on daily basis offering repetitive rewards. I knew when the quests would reset, the most efficient path to travel from one quest to another, and which ones were not