The ’Early Access’ Phenomenon - A study of the underlying motivations of participants in ‘early access’ video games ’Early Access’ Fænomenet - Et studie af de bagvedliggende motivationer hos participanter I ‘early access’ videospil Written by: Theis Sahl Hansen Study Program: Cand. merc. (it.) th Hand-in: January 16 , 2017 Supervisor: Liana Razmerita Characters: 181.054 Pages: 79,58 Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark • January 16th, 2017 The ‘Early Access’ Phenomenon TABLE OF CONTENTS RESUMÉ (DANISH) ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3 KEYWORDS............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 1: FIELD OF RESEARCH..................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 APPROACH TO THE STUDY...................................................................................................................................................... 5 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 5 1.4 THESIS STRUCTURE .................................................................................................................................................................. 6 1.5 MOTIVATION............................................................................................................................................................................... 7 1.6 SCOPE & DELIMIATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 7 1.7 CONCEPT CLARIFICATION ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IN A HISTORICAL CONTEXT ............................................................................... 9 2.1 THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY ................................................................................................................................................. 9 2.2 NEW MEDIA ............................................................................................................................................................................... 10 2.3 THE EARLY ACCESS PHENOMENON ................................................................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 CO-CREATION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 13 3.1.1 CROWD-SOURCING .......................................................................................................................................................... 16 3.1.2 CROWD-FUNDING ............................................................................................................................................................ 18 3.2 PLATFORMS............................................................................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 PLATFORMS & COMMUNITIES...................................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 PARTICIPANT BEHAVIOR ............................................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 4: PRESENTATION OF CASES......................................................................................................................................... 27 4.1 STAR CITIZEN............................................................................................................................................................................ 27 4.2 SUBNAUTICA............................................................................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER 5: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 5.1 RESEARCH APPROACH ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 5.2 DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................................................................................................. 31 5.2.1 QUESTIONNAIRES ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 5.2.2 NETNOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................................................. 32 5.3 VALIDITY & RELIABILITY ..................................................................................................................................................... 33 5.4 DATA ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 35 5.4.1 CODING & CATEGORIZATION ....................................................................................................................................... 35 Page 1 of 71 Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark • January 16th, 2017 The ‘Early Access’ Phenomenon 5.4.2 HERMENEUTIC INTERPRETATION ............................................................................................................................... 36 CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................................................................... 38 6.1 CASE: STAR CITIZEN ............................................................................................................................................................... 38 6.1.1 PARTIAL CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................... 49 6.2 CASE: SUBNAUTICTA.............................................................................................................................................................. 51 6.2.1 PARTIAL CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................... 58 CHAPTER 7: DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................................................. 60 7.1 VISON .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 60 7.2 CO-CREATION ........................................................................................................................................................................... 61 7.3 CONSUMER-BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP .............................................................................................................................. 62 7.4 INFORMATION AND SOCIAL INTERATION ........................................................................................................................ 63 7.5 INDEPENDENT VIDEO GAME DEVELOPMENT.................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................................ 65 CHAPTER 9: BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................................................ 67 CHAPTER 10: APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................................... 71 10.1 APPENDIX 1 – QUANTITATIVE DATA FROM SURVEYS ........................................................................................... 71 10.2 APPENDIX 2 – QUALITATIVE DATA FROM SURVEYS (OPEN QUESTIONS) ......................................................... 71 10.3 APPENDIX 3 – NETNOGRAPIC DATA COLLECTION .................................................................................................. 71 Page 2 of 71 Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark • January