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Entrepreneurs have been a driving force in the rapid development of the Chinese digital game industry. However, in previous studies, little attention has been paid to entrepreneurs' business development and performance, especially the ways in which they obtain key resources in the process of venture creation. Because most gaming entrepreneurs in China have wrestled with fundraising difficulties in recent years, this study was conducted to examine how gaming entrepreneurs acquire financial capital from a social capital perspective. Data were collected from 33 in-depth interviews with gaming entrepreneurs who were operating ventures in Shanghai, one of China's major game industry hubs. The data included detailed accounts of the acquisition of financial capital in relation to the local entrepreneurial ecosystem's four capital providers: business angels, venture capitalists, incubators/accelerators, and government funding agencies. The findings showed that the gaming entrepreneurs in this study used diverse patterns of social capital access and mobilization to acquire financial capital. The findings also showed how the entrepreneurs had adjusted their social capital use in response to the worsening financial market. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on the Chinese digital game industry by articulating how gaming entrepreneurs leverage social resources to enact venture creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The following chapter will discuss the relation between home computer history and computer programming – with a focus on game programming. The nurseries of the early 1980s are the origins of the later computer game industry and the private use of microcomputers becomes an essential part of the 'playful' exploration and emancipation of technology. This is why the contribution that home computing added to the history of digital economics, culture and even thought cannot be estimated high enough. After the definition of central terms and discussing the main problems of the historiography of technology and computing, the main topic separated in decades will be portrayed. The milestones of home computer technology will be linked to the scenes and (sub)cultures of their users. Some of these links will be highlighted. My presentation will not be exhaustive but will try to highlight some of the playful uses of computers – from the perspective of this technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After over a decade of scholarly research and well-documented harassment, sexism, and other forms of exclusion and marginalization, digital games culture is currently the object of heightened attention and discourse related to diversity and inclusion. This paper considers the context of this shift with a particular focus on the relationship between gender-focused inclusivity-based action in the form of women-in-games incubators, post-feminist discourse, and the neoliberal context of digital games production. As opposed to rife anti-feminism and similar “backlash” sentiments, articulations of post-feminism within the digital game industry provide insights into the tensions inherent in introducing action for change within a conservative culture of production, particularly for women in the industry. At the same time, the contradictions and tensions of the post-feminist ethos allow for actions that function through this logic while subverting it. Through a brief consideration of three exemplary post-feminist articulations by visible female figures in the North American digital games community, this article explores the challenges and opportunities presented by the gaps and contradictions of post-feminism in games culture and production. It concludes with equal measures of caution and optimism, indicating future directions for study and activism. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The computer games industry suffers from high rates of piracy, with many people downloading illegal copies of games. People in the industry are aware of the problem, and the gravity of it has been acknowledged and commented on by many publishers and developers. Yet unlike the Recording Industry Association of America, Motion Picture Association of America, independent movie studios, and other rights holders, computer game developers and publishers have shied away from attempting to sue pirates or otherwise enforce their rights through the legal system. Instead, the industry has looked to a variety of self-help remedies, a fact that has largely not been commented on by legal scholars. This paper examines the successes and pitfalls of these varied non-legal approaches, broadly classifying them into four categories: digital rights management, online-only offerings, making legal easier, and community engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital games industry has developed from a secondary sector of the media entertainment industry to one of its major driving forces. Despite its economic relevance, it is still a transitional industry with quickly evolving structures. As such, it is also an interesting object for the analysis of the development of media industries. The current study uses a combination of social network analysis and expert interviews to map the emerging network structures within the German games industry. It reconstructs the career pathways of key managers in the industry, including their former and current business relationships. The study's findings indicate that the current breed of managers primarily enter the games business from other economic sectors. For this reason, the industry network is still characterized by weak organizational interconnections. However, the strong connectedness of a younger generation of managers hints at a future strengthening of the underlying business and communication network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an excerpt of an interview from a 2009 series conducted by the authors with computer game project director William Ryan Kaufman of Planet Moon Studios in which he discusses the computer game industry, independent game development, and computer game publishers.

The article discusses the effects of the global recession on the computer games industry. It comments that the debate about the financial resilience of the computer games industry during an economic downturn actually signaled significant shifts brewing in the population and consumption of games. It concludes that the significant shifts in the entertainment software and hardware industry also present challenges to game studies scholarship that are similar to trends in media studies.

Video games have come a long way - from the early 1980s and console-based systems to online gaming and mobile applications. Brands can co-opt the engagement of digital games through in-game advertising (IGA) and advergames. [Extracted from the article]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including libidinal language, forms of creative agency play in the digital gaming industry, and the intersections between governance and forms of economic and creative personhood.