[ecrea] new book - Co-creative Game Design as Participatory Alternative Media

New book
Co-creative Game Design as Participatory Alternative Media
Patrick Prax
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2016.
ISBN: 978-91-554-9599-2

Open access - available at:
http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:923235/FULLTEXT01.pdf

Abstract

The possibility of co-creation exists for all media, but game design has 
developed a culture that is unusually open to co-creation. This 
dissertation investigates significant cases of co-creation in mainstream 
games in order to explore how games can be co-created as alternative or 
critical media by their players.

The core argument in the dissertation is that players co-create the 
design of a game only if certain conditions are met, namely: (1) player 
creation of a text or communication infrastructure that modifies the 
properties of the game and from which play emerges; (2) that this is 
done for a considerable group of players who share a particular practice 
of play; (3) that this is done not only by playing the game but by 
changing how others play it in a distinct creative activity, and (4), 
with the potential to subvert or contest the original design of the game.

This situation where player creators have influence over the design of 
the game (but little power to enforce their interests) is problematic 
from the perspective of alternative or critical media, as alternative, 
local, production is seen as one reason for why a medium can have an 
alternative message.

The industrial production of games as cultural commodities does limit 
the potential of co-creative game design for subversion because it 
reduces the level of participation in the creation process, thus keeping 
player creators relatively disempowered. Player creators do have 
influence on the design of the game, while at the same time having very 
little power to enforce their interests and design visions. The 
influence of player creators comes from the consumer power of millions 
of players who use co-created assets and who want to them to continue 
exiting, and this creates a mutually dependent relationship (and even 
partnership), between co-creators and commercial owners.

The dissertation concludes that co-creative game design, despite 
limitations related to the industrial production of games as cultural 
commodities, is already happening, and shows a potential for turning 
games into alternative media.



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