The Eighth Console Generation and Triple-A Videogames
A Critical Political Economic Analysis of the Destiny Franchise
Cindy Krassen
Research Master Thesis Media Studies Supervisor: Dr. Anne Helmond Second Reader: Dr. Bernhard Rieder
ii
The Eighth Console Generation and Triple-A Videogames
A Critical Political Economic Analysis of the Destiny Franchise
Cindy Sandra Krassen 10092943
cindy.krassen@student.uva.nl cindy-1702@hotmail.com
Supervisor: Dr. Anne Helmond, <A.Helmond@uva.nl> Second reader: Dr. Bernhard Rieder, <B.Rieder@uva.nl>
Date of submission: 23 June 2016 Word count: 22.997
Research Master Thesis Media Studies Research Master’s in Media Studies Department of Media Studies Graduate School of Humanities Faculty of Humanities
iii Abstract
The dedicated gaming industry is a rapidly changing and innovating industry. The launch of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One represents the current and eighth console cycle, which has been accompanied by many changes in economic, political, material, and technological terms. This thesis is mainly concerned with studying how the cultural commodity form of
blockbuster videogames released for these respective consoles has transformed because of these changes. In order to analyse this, the thesis builds upon and contributes to critical political economy, platform studies, and game studies. These fields of study, and the mixed-methods approach that is derived from them, enable a critical deconstruction of the product form of videogames by examining how different actors within the dedicated industry, such as game developers and game publishers, console manufacturers, and gamers, constitute this blockbuster commodity form from within the political and economic context they are situated. Throughout this thesis, the focus is on a case study of the Destiny franchise respectively. Based on Destiny, is argued and illustrated that the eighth-generation videogame is a mutually constituted commodity, which is predominantly distributed, released and “consumed” in a digital form and which is continuously updated and altered. As a
consequence, this thesis contends that this videogame commodity form should be seen as an ongoing service rather than a clear-cut and finished product.
Keywords
Cultural Commodities; Critical Political Economy; Dedicated Gaming Industry; Destiny; Eighth Console Generation; Game Studies; Platform Studies; Triple-A Games
iv
All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous
men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did.
- Narrated by Nathan Drake in Uncharted 3 (2011) based on T. E. Lawrence’s Seven Pillars of Wisdom
v Acknowledgements
Writing a thesis is never a solitary process. Even though my sincerest gratitude can hardly be expressed in words, I wish to dedicate this page and the consecutive one to those persons who have been involved in the writing process of my second Master’s thesis and who have each contributed to this project in different ways. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor Anne Helmond for her support and encouragements, for patiently teaching me everything I needed to know about APIs, interfaces and platforms, for all the helpful advice, inspiring suggestions and constructive remarks, and for the enthusiasm with which she embraced the topic of my thesis. She has been a great supervisor and I am grateful for all the things that she has taught me. Anne, thank you very much for everything!
I also wish to thank David Nieborg for introducing me to the field of critical political economy, for providing valuable feedback on my thesis proposal and the first draft of this thesis, and for giving me advice whenever I needed it. David’s PhD thesis has been the main source of inspiration for this thesis and I am thankful for all the time that he has spent on discussing it with me. David, thank you so much for your support, for never growing tired of all of my questions, and for the fun, enlightening, and critical discussions on videogames. Additionally, I would like to express my gratitude to Bernhard Rieder for his helpful feedback on my thesis proposal and Jaap Kooijman for his suggestions and remarks on my Thesis Conference presentation during which I presented the second chapter of this thesis.
A special thanks to Abe Geil and Maryn Wilkinson, who were my referents when I applied for my Research Master’s. I thank them both for encouraging me throughout my studies, for teaching me how to write proper academic papers, and for the great courses they have taught me. Abe and Maryn, I have nothing but admiration for your knowledge and I am certain that both of you will continue to inspire many students for years to come. Maryn, I would like to thank you in particular for everything that you have done for me and for all those times I could confide in you.
Furthermore, I would like to thank Atossa Atabaki, a dear friend and thesis-writing partner in crime. Dearest Atossa, thank you so much for the fun but useful and beneficial thesis dates that we have had, for reading drafts of my thesis, and for making many
suggestions for improvement. I am very happy and grateful that I have met you and that you have always been there to motivate me whenever I needed it. With you, writing a Master’s thesis was really enjoyable!
vi Last but certainly not least, I would like to thank my family for their love and support. In particular, I would like to thank my grandma for the weekly motivational speeches, her love, and her faith in me. Omie, I love you to the moon and back! Most importantly, I wish to thank my parents for their unconditional love and unwavering support. I am forever deeply grateful that you allowed a little girl to do and love her rather ‘boyish’ hobbies. Mom, the moments you translated the English dialogue screens on a Game Boy Color for an eight-year-old, and, Dad, the moments when you taught an eleven-year-old everything about military strategies and tactics when playing shooter games together are among the most fondest memories I have. Thank you for giving me everything I needed, for giving up so much for me, and for teaching me that “winners never quit, quitters never win.” I would never have come this far without you. Thanks to you my dreams were not just made, they were won.
vii Table of Contents
Abstract p. iii
Acknowledgments p. v
Table of Contents p. vii
Introduction p. 1
Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework & Methodological Approaches p. 5
1.1 Theoretical Framework p. 5
1.2 Methodological Approaches p. 11
Chapter 2: Never-Ending Commodities p. 15
The Triple-A Commodity Form, Release Strategies and Formats
2.1 The Unfinished Commodity, Franchising, and Branched Serialization p. 15 2.2 The Destiny Franchise and Episodic Serialization p. 20
Chapter 3: Increased Networked and Connective Functionalities p. 31 The Techno-Economic Logic of Consoles and the Power of
Console Manufacturers
3.1 Consoles as Networked and Connective Platforms p. 31
3.2 The Power of Sony and Microsoft p. 45
3.3 From a Two-Sided to a Three-Sided Market p. 51
Chapter 4: Mutually Constituted Commodities p. 57
Power to the Gamer?
4.1 Game Developers, Game Publishers and Feedback Possibilities p. 57 4.2 Gamers’ Feedback, New Content and Adjusted Release Strategies p. 62
Conclusion p. 67
1 Introduction
Triple-A videogames1 are booming business and hence the dedicated gaming industry is one of the most profitable and fastest-growing cultural industries (Buckingham, 1; Chatfield, n. pag.; Cox, n. pag.; Kamenetz, n. pag.; Nichols, 2; Siwek, 1). Not surprisingly, many scholars address this at the start of their papers to justify the relevance of their object of study
(Nieborg, 8). However, hardly any of this academic literature focuses on a critical enquiry of how the Triple-A game industry has become one of the biggest and most profitable
entertainment industries. Instead, scholars studying videogames tend to focus on topics
concerning “questions of effects, learning and play, while a critical examination of production has rarely been touched upon” (Nichols, 1). This lack of a critical understanding of the
dedicated gaming industry and of how videogames are produced is problematic, since “[s]uch an uncritical economic perspective prevents a deeper understanding of a dominant industry logic which reflects a high level of corporate concentration, which thrives on the
commodification of everyday digital play, which is particularly technology-driven and based on a continual mass making effort” (Nieborg, 8). In other words, a neglect of the production of videogames and the industry that produces them limits the knowledge of how the form of these games as products is constituted by game developers and game publishers (for instance Square Enix and Take-Two Interactive), console manufacturers (for example Sony and Microsoft), and gamers. As Bernard Miège argues based on the work by Karl Marx, products that are produced to be exchanged with the goal of generating revenues can be defined as cultural commodities (301). Thus, based on this definition, Triple-A games (and the consoles on which they are played) should be understood as cultural commodities as well, since they can be characterized as “products of an industry organized around capitalist exchange – that must follow particular logics of production” (Nichols, 1).
There is some academic literature on videogames as cultural commodities written from a critical political economic perspective2, which in relation to videogames should be
understood as conducting research focused on “the commercial dimensions of the global games industry, the marketing and promotion of games, and the patterns of ownership and
1
Triple-A games are “[l]arge scale commercial games [that] are often referred to as ‘AAA titles’” (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 15). In addition, they can be characterized as “platform independent, heavily marketed, physically distributed ‘flagpole title[s]’, published by one of the few transnational for-profit publishers” (Nieborg, 17).
2
In addition to the academic literature by David Nieborg and Randy Nichols, see for example Games of Empire by Nick Dyer-Witheford and Greig de Peuter and The Business and Culture of Digital Games: Gamework and
2 control that significantly determine the kinds of games that are produced” (Buckingham, 13). Nevertheless, it is a relatively new approach that is in need of greater scholarly attention, especially since the videogame industry is a rapidly changing and innovating industry in terms of hardware and software. The history of dedicated gaming hardware shows that console manufacturers introduce a new console cycle with better hardware, technological
improvements, and more entertainment possibilities between every five to ten years
(Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith and Tosca, 14; Johns, 156; Kerr, 48, 57; Nieborg, 20). To illustrate, the seventh generation started in 2005 with the launch of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and was followed by Sony’s PlayStation 3 (2006) and Nintendo’s Wii (2006), while the eighth cycle encompasses Nintendo’s Wii U (2012), Sony’s PlayStation 4 (2013) and Microsoft’s Xbox One (2013). Compared to the seventh generation, the eighth generation has larger storage capabilities and more advanced CPUs and GPUs3 which allow these consoles to play more technically sophisticated games. Even though the existing academic literature has examined older console generations, the eighth console cycle has not been studied thoroughly yet. Arguably, this is problematic, since as game scholar David Nieborg states, “[a]s is every new console cycle, the next-gen era is a period of transition and as a result the next-gen
commodity form is different from previous cycles” (27). As a consequence, what changes is “the way in which blockbuster games come into being, how they are distributed and
marketed. The next-gen cycle not only signals a change in game hardware but also alters the blockbuster video game in an economic, technologic and cultural sense” (Nieborg, 4). This means that together with the launch of new consoles, the commodity form of videogames is transformed, new release strategies and formats are introduced, and different types of
‘consumption’ are afforded. Thus, a lack of research on the eighth console cycle creates a gap in the understanding of the economic, technologic and cultural dimensions of videogames as commodities, and it limits the knowledge of which actors within the dedicated gaming industry constitute this commodity form4.
Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the political economy of Triple-A games published for eighth-generation consoles, because I want to find out how political, economic, and technological specificities and regulations constitute the commodity form of these
videogames. This is studied in order to uncover to what extent game developers and game publishers, console manufacturers, and gamers can shape, dictate, or negotiate this Triple-A
3 A CPU is “the essential arithmetic at the core of computation” (Montfort and Bogost, 13; also King and
Krzywinska, 27), while a GPU renders the graphics (Nieborg, 153; King and Krzywinska, 27).
4
The question on how to keep up with the newest developments and latest technologies within academic literature is also a common problem within new media studies (Flew, 1).
3 commodity form. However, because of the scope of this thesis, only one Triple-A franchise will be analysed in detail. The chosen case study is the new intellectual property (IP) Destiny (2014-ongoing) developed by Bungie (founded in 1991) and published by Activision
(founded in 1979), since this franchise is specifically released for the eighth console
generation (Activision, 2). Activision positions Destiny as an innovative, futuristic, science fiction, first-person5, shared-world shooter, whereby its form and gameplay characteristics are specifically enabled through the technological functionalities of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One (Activision Blizzard, “Annual Report 2013,” 15-16; Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2013 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2014 Results,” n. pag.). Therefore, Destiny can reveal a lot about game developers and publishers’ release strategies and formats for the eighth console cycle, and the new techno-economic aspects and regulations of these
respective consoles as dictated by console manufacturers. Thus, the goal of this case study is to develop and deduct dominant principles that can be applied to similar case studies. I contend this is possible since game development is standardized and the commodity form of most Triple-A games is formulaic and formatted (Nieborg, 13). Yet, since Destiny is part of a larger phenomenon, and to prevent too generalized claims and conclusions based on solely one franchise, the analyses throughout this thesis also encompass other examples that consist of recent well-known Western and Eastern videogames and franchises to exemplify broader developments. Although Nieborg argues that “a Triple-A game should not be considered as a single unit of analysis since it is always part of a game franchise” (28), I contend that the eighth console generation has given rise to new IPs which may be part of a franchise in the future but which are, for now, standalone videogames. I have selected these regardless of their ‘single unit’ status because, as I will argue throughout this thesis, most of these videogames as cultural commodities can nevertheless reveal new plans by game developers and publishers. Additionally, even though Nintendo’s Wii U is part of the eighth console generation as well, this thesis does not examine it since the case study Destiny was not released for this respective console6. Thus, this thesis should also be understood as a study of the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One through a case study of the Destiny franchise.
5
A first-person perspective entails that gamers perceive the game space through the eyes of their avatars (Wei, Bizzocchi, and Calvert, 12).
6
I also do not study the Wii U, the Triple-A games for this console, and Nintendo as a console manufacturer, because Nintendo has a different gamer demographic (casual gamers) than Sony and Microsoft (hard-core gamers) which is beyond the scope of this thesis (Nintendo, 13; Leorke, 261; Newman, 51; Sinclair, n. pag.).
4 Taking the aim and the scope into consideration, the research question that is central to this thesis is: “In what ways is Destiny’s cultural commodity form shaped by the politics of the eighth console generation and the actors within the dedicated gaming industry?” To answer this research question, I draw upon several fields of study such as game studies, critical political economy, platform studies, and management studies. In addition, I engage with a diverse mixed-methods approach consisting of documentation analysis, textual
analysis, interface analysis, and institutional analysis. To justify and explain how these bodies of literature and different methods can operate together, the opening chapter of this thesis provides a discussion of the theoretical framework and the methodological approaches. The second chapter is dedicated to a discussion and analysis of how game developers and game publishers can shape the Triple-A commodity form through release strategies and formats. The consecutive chapter is devoted to an examination of how this commodity form is enabled by the techno-economic logic of eighth-generation consoles and the politics as imposed by console manufacturers. Also, it discusses the shifting power relations within the Triple-A production network and the dedicated gaming market structure to analyse how power dynamics between prominent industrial actors influence the Triple-A commodity form. Hereafter, the fourth and final chapter focuses on these power dynamics as well to study to what extent gamers can negotiate the release strategy and Triple-A commodity form. Thus, the goal is to analyse and discuss three interrelated aspects that shape the Triple-A commodity form during the eighth console generation. Ultimately, this thesis proposes that the Destiny franchise in its cultural commodity form is mutually constituted by its game developer and game publisher through release strategies and formats, which are enabled through the
regulations and new techno-economic aspects of the eighth-generation consoles as dictated by console manufacturers, and which can be negotiated by the gaming community.
5 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework and Methodological Approaches
In this chapter the theoretical framework and methodological approaches are discussed. Structurally, the first part of this chapter introduces the theoretical framework, which encompasses critical political economy, game studies, platform studies, and management studies, and it provides explanations of important concepts and terms. This is discussed by focusing on four elements of inquiry since these constitute the Triple-A commodity form in conjunction, as will be argued throughout this thesis: software (Triple-A games), hardware (eighth-generation consoles) and console manufacturers (Sony and Microsoft), the power dynamics within the dedicated gaming industry, and agency through negotiation (gamers). Hereafter, the second part justifies the use of a mixed methods approach and it explains what each method allows to uncover with regard to the Triple-A game’s commodity form, release strategies, formats, consoles and the dedicated gaming industry.
1.1. Theoretical Framework
To argue that Triple-A games in their commodity form are mutually constituted commodities shaped by game developers and publishers, console manufacturers, power relations within the game industry, and gamers, I draw upon theories that critically study economic and political power dynamics in industries and the process of commodification. As briefly mentioned in the introduction, one field of study that is concerned with these topics is critical political economy (henceforth CPE). Vincent Mosco, one of the most influential contributors to this field (Flew, 55), argues that this perspective can be defined as: “the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the production,
distribution, and consumption of resources, including communication resources” (italics in original, 2, also 24). Hence, CPE, which is influenced by Marxism, can be understood as an approach that studies the political and economic organisation of media industries (Hardy, 3, 6), capital, and the ways in which uneven power relations are challenged, sustained and reproduced (Hardy, 4, 6; Mosco, 2, 24). Although Mosco argues for three different processes that are central to an understanding of the political economy of media, I elaborate on two of those: commodification and spatialization7. The first process, commodification, entails “the
7
The third core process that Mosco proposes is structuration, which entails the process “by which structures
are constituted out of human agency, even as they provide the very ‘medium’ of that constitution” (italics in
6 process of transforming things valued for their use into marketable products that are valued for what they can bring in exchange” (Mosco, 127, also 11, 129, 132). With regard to videogames, this theoretical concept enables a study of “what kind of Triple-A games are made, under what conditions and how they are circulated” (Nieborg, italics in original, 13). Within CPE such an approach is also commonly referred to as a micro-economic perspective, which thus specifically looks at the product form of media. Hence, in case of this thesis, it entails an analysis of the product form of videogames (software) specifically. The second process, spatialization, entails
studying different forms of corporate concentration or the ways companies strengthen their organization to dominate markets. […] Corporate concentration permits
companies to better control the production, distribution, and exchange of
communication, and also limits competition and therefore the diversity of information and entertainment available in society. (Mosco, italics in original, 159-160, also 15, 127)
Considering the game industry, spatialization allows for an examination of the dominant actors (i.e. market players), platform ownership and how console manufacturers control the industry in terms of what kind of games can be made and released, corporate concentration, capital, and the power relations between these different actors. In turn, these institutional dynamics influence the Triple-A commodity as they determine how videogames are produced and distributed. Within CPE this perspective is also often called a macro-economic
perspective and it thus enables a focus on institutions and power dynamics within the game industry.
In addition, David Nieborg argues that with regard to Triple-A games as cultural commodities and the dedicated gaming industry both processes of commodification and spatialization lead to what he coins as the techno-economic logic of videogames (Triple-A, 13). This, firstly, refers to the ways in which console manufacturers (Sony and Microsoft) can control what kind of games are released for their consoles, and, secondly, it encompasses the strategies that are developed by console manufacturers, game developers, and game
publishers to generate revenues (13-14). According to Nieborg, this works as follows:
(188). However, since this thesis is not concerned with questioning who (women and/or men) plays these Triple-A console games and what social background they have, the process of structuration is beyond the scope of this thesis.
7 First, hardware platforms are constantly updated via hardware revisions as well as software upgrades of a platform’s firmware and operating system. Second, every single next-gen Triple-A game, in order to be financially successful for a game publishers, needs to be serialized. As such, the next-gen Triple-A game is characterized by the commitment of game publishers and platform owners to technological and economic continuity and giving the game’s commodity form its predictable and repetitive character. (14)
In other words, the Triple-A game in its commodity form can be considered a standardized cultural product (16, 186), which is shaped through continuously updated technological aspects of dedicated consoles (19) as it is platform dependent (11). This means that a Triple-A game published on a physical disc for a PlayStation 4 console can be inserted and played on any of those consoles, yet, although the same disc can be inserted in a PlayStation 3 system this console will not be able to play the game. Thus, these three theoretical concepts –
commodification, spatialization, and techno-economic logic – allow for a thorough analysis of which institutional actors and elements constitute the Triple-A commodity form (27).
However, CPE as a field of study has its limitations. In general, it focuses on three different, but interrelated, topics: production (institutions), content of commodities, and audiences (Hardy, 10). Yet, according to Mosco, academic literature written from a CPE perspective predominantly studies institutions, while the commodity itself, the process of commodification, and audiences have been examined to a lesser extent (12, 133). When CPE scholars do examine the content of commodities they tend to focus on how ideologies8 are sustained by dominant institutions (Hardy, 11). But analysing ideologies in cultural
commodities as ‘texts’ has several limitations as well: it can lead to oversimplified analyses of ideologies and it disregards audiences’ agency (12). Therefore, this thesis is not concerned with ideologies but rather with the process of commodifying a ‘text,’ and, additionally, it does take into account gamers’ agency. When CPE scholars study audiences and their agency they commonly understand and analyse them as commodities that are being sold to advertisers (Mosco, 12). Even though the ‘audience commodity’ (Smythe, “Communications”) is common for some segments of the gaming industry, such as free-to-play games and apps played via PCs, tablets and/or smartphones (Fuchs, “Dallas Smythe Today”; Nieborg, “Crushing Candy”; Terlutter and Capella, “The Gamification of Advertising”; ), it is not
8 From a critical political economic perspective ideology is defined as “the deliberate distortion or
misrepresentation of social reality to advance specific interests and maintain hierarchies of power” (Mosco, 206). However, according to David Hesmondhalgh it is a rather complex and contested term (155), and therefore Mosco’s definition should be understood as only one of many.
8 common for the dedicated console industry yet (Nieborg, “Crushing Candy,” 6; Williams, 42). Also, since the focus is on the Triple-A commodity form specifically, an examination of how gaming audiences are turned into commodities is beyond the aim of this thesis. Hence, it is more appropriate to speak of ‘gamers’ rather than ‘audiences.’ However, Thomas Apperley and Darshana Jayemane argue that the term ‘gamer’ is contested, since it is used to designate both those people who play a videogame, and those who, for example, watch gameplay videos (ibid.) on websites such as Twitch9. Here, the term ‘gamer’ is used to only refer to those people who play videogames, since analysing those people who watch gameplay is beyond the scope of this thesis. In addition, instead of studying gamers as commodities I argue that it is more apt to examine gamers’ agency. From a game studies perspective agency is usually understood as gamers identifying with their avatars10 (Pearce, n. pag.), or as the ways in which gamers can interact with the game space through their avatars (Schott, 139).
Additionally, agency can refer to the extent that gamers can either subvert the meanings of a game as a text through fan practices (Schott, 2008), or to the ways in which they can contest and bend a game’s rules or game space through mods11
(Apperley and Jayemane, 9; Ferrari and Bogost, 51; Jenkins, 163). Since ideologies, meanings, cognitivism, user-generated content (mods and fan practices), and ludology12 are beyond the scope of this thesis, my goal is to provide an additional, theoretical and foremost political economic perspective on gamers’ agency by questioning to what extent gamers can influence or negotiate the cultural commodity form of Triple-A games. Here, agency is thus understood as a negotiation process and how this can be analysed is explained in the next part of this chapter.
Moreover, as David Hesmondhalgh argues, focusing on only one of the three topics - production, content or (in this case) gamers – is problematic, since one topic cannot be properly understood without a discussion of the other two (146). Hence, all three should be studied in conjunction. This is a similar argument Timothy Havens, Amanda Lotz and Serra Tinic make when pleading for what they coin as ‘critical media industry studies’ (henceforth
9
Twitch is a social video platform via which gamers can stream their gameplay live to anyone who is interested in a specific videogame (“About Twitch,” n. pag.). It also functions as a platform via which game developers and publishers can broadcast videos about their latest games (ibid.).
10
An avatar is “the player’s representation in the simulated world, the virtual character that is controlled by his or her playing” (Backe, 528).
11
Mods are “modifications to or extensions of commercial games; they are created by players and then exchanged with other fans in active online fora” (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 159). For a discussion of mods from a CPE perspective see “Precarious Playbour” by Julian Kücklich, and for an analysis of the modding community see “Computer Game Modders’ Motivations and Sense of Community” by Nathanial Poor.
12
From a game studies perspective ludology should be understood as “the study of game structure (or gameplay) as opposed to the study of games as narratives or games as a visual medium” (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 252).
9 CMIS), which is based on critical cultural studies (“Critical Media Industry Studies”). As they state in their article, unlike CPE which predominantly focuses on the macro-level of
institutions and ownership (234, 236), CMIS also addresses a micro-level encompassing media texts and human agents (235). The combination of both perspectives should lead to an in-depth understanding of media industries and specifically of how power dynamics,
industrial practices and regulations, and textual forms mutually influence and shape each other (248). Even though both fields of study are concerned with questions of power (236), Havens, Lotz and Tinic propose that CMIS should also critically examine how human agents can contest and negotiate the power of institutions (248). Yet, CMIS as a field of study also has its limitations, since it neglects the format and structure of cultural commodities and instead focuses on the meaning of media texts. As argued when explaining the processes of commodification and spatialization, and gamers’ agency as a negotiation process, this thesis incorporates both a macro-economic and micro-economic perspective in a similar fashion as these authors have proposed. Here, I contribute to CMIS by focusing on the cultural
commodity form when discussing media institutions, since, arguably, the meaning of a text cannot be properly understood without an examination of how it is developed and distributed as a cultural product.
Throughout their article, Havens, Lotz and Tinic argue that a combination of a micro- and macro-economic perspective is novel and that there is hardly any academic literature that incorporates both perspectives. One scholar who does engage with both perspectives in his work is Nieborg. He has studied Triple-A games in their cultural commodity form, the
techno-economic logic of consoles, and power dynamics within the game industry in his PhD thesis (Triple-A). Even though this thesis is greatly indebted to Nieborg’s work, I contribute to his theorization and the several concepts he has developed in two distinct ways. First, Nieborg does not examine gamers’ agency. Hence, I add to the understanding of the Triple-A
commodity form by showing how it is partially negotiated by gamers. Second, rather than focusing on the seventh console generation, I discuss the eighth generation to examine to what extent the techno-economic logic has been altered since the launch of this new console cycle and what kind of new release strategies and formats for Triple-A games have emerged.
Furthermore, in addition to a predominantly critical political economic perspective, I build upon platform studies as developed by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost (Racing the Beam) which can be considered as one of many theoretical approaches within game studies
10 (Trammell and Sinnreich, 4)13. According to Montfort and Bogost, platform studies
“investigate the relationships between platforms – the hardware and software design of standardized computing systems – and influential creative works that have been produced on those platforms” (2). For platform studies the object of study is the materiality of
computational platforms, such as the components that constitute the hardware (controllers, chips, etc.) (ibid.). These material and technological components influence the works that are built for a platform (3). Also, discussions about platforms should encompass an analysis of “how social, economic, cultural, and other factors led platform designers to put together systems in particular ways” (Bogost and Montfort, 4-5). Hence, in relation to dedicated consoles and Triple-A games, this theoretical approach allows for a discussion and analysis of the material and technological specificities (software, hardware, controllers and interfaces) of the eighth console generation and how these specificities shape and regulate the Triple-A commodity form, the release strategies, and the formats that are possible. In addition, it enables a study of social, economic and cultural circumstances that influence the material and technological specificities of dedicated consoles as commodities. Here, I contribute to
platform studies by arguing for the ways in which the commodity form of Triple-A games published for eighth-generation consoles is influenced by both the materiality of the hardware and by the economic and political context wherein they are situated. Thus, platform studies complements a CPE approach, as it not only enables an examination of the game industry that produces and distributes videogames and dedicated consoles, but through its specific focus on the materiality of platforms it also allows for an analysis of the techno-economic aspects of eighth-generation consoles. Therefore, a combination of both fields of study supports the macro-economic and micro-economic approach as proposed for this thesis.
Finally, I build upon management studies, which is based on neo-classical economics (Nieborg, 81, 133). From this perspective, management is understood “as a pervasive
institution that is entrenched within capitalist economic formations” (Alvesson, Bridgman and Willmott, 1). Hence, this theoretical approach is concerned “with the study of, and sometimes against, management” (italics in original, ibid.). Here, the focus is specifically on critically examining “social practices and institutional arrangements” and questioning domination within industries (ibid.). In the context of this thesis, this theoretical approach is used as
13 It should be noted that even though Montfort and Bogost analyse a dedicated console and videogames in
their book, their conceptualization and theorization of platform studies is also applicable to other digital media: “‘Platform studies’ is a new focus for the study of digital media, a set of approaches which investigates the underlying computer systems that support creative work” (Bogost and Montfort, 1).
11 complementary to CPE to critically study the dedicated gaming industry in its current state, and especially its organizational structures and power dynamics.
1.2. Methodological Approaches
From these different fields of study, several methods can be derived to study Triple-A games as mutually constituted cultural commodities. By building upon a critical political economic (CPE) approach, analyses of Triple-A games should be historical, holistic, normative, and critical (Mosco, 3-4, 26-29, 32, 110, 124; Hardy, 4). First, historical refers to an examination of historical developments within industries (Mosco, 3, 26-27, 110), which, with regard to the dedicated gaming industry, entails an analysis of the current technological and economic trends that are then related to the history of this industry in general. Second, holistic “means understanding the connections between the political and the economic” (ibid., 29). Hence, an analysis of the game industry should take into consideration that it is part of wider social and political phenomena (Hardy, 4), and thus that it is part of the cultural industries (Nieborg, 31). Third, normative (moral philosophy) encompasses an engagement with the political and economic by focusing on questions about justice and equality (Meehan, Mosco, Wasko, 108). When considering the dedicated gaming industry this entails analysing power dynamics between game developers, game publishers, console manufacturers, and gamers. Finally, critical concerns an analysis of the ways in which these power relations are sustained and challenged (Hardy, 4), which, with regard to videogames means “that the Triple-A
commodity form is rooted in a complex and contradictory set of material conditions that are commonly perceived as natural” (Nieborg, 30). Here, the point is to critically challenge this ‘naturalness.’
Moreover, Jonathan Hardy argues that CPE research “is not limited methodologically and draws on the range of methods from the social sciences and humanities” (76). The methods that this thesis predominantly employs are documentation analysis, textual analysis, interviews (Hardy, 7, 76), interface analysis (Wiemer, 77-78), institutional analysis (Meehan, Mosco, and Wasko, 112), and global production network analysis (Johns, 153). To study Triple-A games (software) in their commodity form, I use documentation analysis which should be understood as a discussion of corporate documents in the public domain (Hardy, 75). For this thesis this entails an examination of official annual reports and transcripts of quarterly calls by game publisher Activision, and the official contract between game
12 by Activision from the beginning of 2013 until June 2016, which encompasses four annual reports (2012-2015) and fourteen transcripts of quarterly calls. These sources are used to argue for and analyse the release strategy, format, and implementation of downloadable content (DLC)14 for the Destiny franchise (2014-ongoing). However, as stated in the
theoretical framework, CPE research predominantly focuses on ideologies in cultural products and this is beyond the scope of this thesis. Therefore, documentation analysis is supported by textual analysis. With regard to Triple-A games as commodities textual analysis requires “attention to such game specific properties as the implementation of DLC into the core game, the release and pricing strategies of DLC, and the nature (size, content) of additional material” (Nieborg, 34).
Even though platform studies as developed by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost (Racing the Beam) provides a theoretical approach that enables a study of the technological aspects of platforms as influenced by social, cultural and historical circumstances, it does not offer clear-cut methods that can be used to analyse these platforms (Apperley and Parikka, 2; Leorke, 260). Rather, analyses conducted from a platform studies perspective have three
characteristics: according to Montfort and Bogost there should be a focus on one single platform or closely related platforms, an examination of how this technology works, and how it is situated within culture and society (vii-viii). In addition, platform studies allows for an analysis of five different, but interrelated, levels of digital media: reception and operation; interfaces; forms and functions; codes; and platforms (145-150). Although Montfort and Bogost predominantly analyse the level of the platform when discussing the Atari VCS, they also study the other levels to some extent. Yet, whereas they discuss only one console, I discuss the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but because of the aim of this thesis I predominantly focus on these consoles’ hardware and software interfaces. Here, an interface should be understood as that “what sits between the core of the program and the user; it is not the core of the program itself” (146). Rather, it is “[t]he graphical or textual form of interaction between user and software. Through the interface the user may give commands to the software which are then translated into instructions that the computer can interpret”
(Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 251). Therefore, to study eighth-generation consoles (hardware), I first engage in interface analysis from a game studies perspective (Trammell and Sinnreich, 4-5) to discuss the technological functionalities of these platforms and to trace the
14
Downloadable content refers to either paid-for or free additional, digital content that is released by game developers and publishers after a Triple-A games has been released in retail and digital stores. This is explained into more detail in the next chapter of this thesis.
13 ways in which technological aspects have developed since the seventh console generation. Here, interface analysis specifically refers to an examination of hardware interfaces, such as game controllers, and software interfaces consisting of menu structures, game-related navigation, and visual information styles (Wiemer, 78). In addition, since a platform studies approach requires a discussion of economic (capital) and political (power relations) aspects, I also draw upon the already discussed documentation analysis to examine how game
developers and publishers have to adhere to the regulations and technological functionalities of eighth-generation consoles as dictated by console manufacturers when developing new types of games, long-term release strategies, and formats. By doing this, this thesis elaborates on Thomas Apperley’s and Jussi Parikka’s notion of “paratexts,” which they base on the conceptualization by Mia Consalvo (6). They argue that paratexts refer to all kinds of materials about a respective platform, such as interviews with developers, user responses, software, articles by journalists and marketing materials (ibid.). In conjunction, these
paratexts constitute an archive: “[t]his means that platform studies entails a particular type of archive. Particularly important is that the platform must have produced and distributed a sufficient volume of software and other secondary materials to make up an archive that allows it to be stably reconstituted through platform studies” (6). Thus, an analysis conducted from a platform studies perspective entails a study of the materiality and technology of a platform that is enabled through an extensive archive of paratexts on that specific platform.
Furthermore, to study power dynamics and organizational structures within the dedicated gaming industry as a whole and how this shapes the commodity form of Triple-A games, I use institutional analysis from a CPE perspective and global production network analysis from a management studies perspective. First, institutional analysis examines industrial structures and their effects (Meehan, Mosco, and Wasko, 112). This allows for an examination of power relations within the dedicated gaming industry in its current state and a study of how this industry is concentrated in terms of only having two major console
manufacturers: Sony and Microsoft. Second, the global production network approach should be understood as studying the production networks within industries (Johns, “Video Games Production Networks”), which is here used to discuss the production network for Triple-A games and eighth-generation consoles. Precisely, it allows for an analysis of major
institutional actors (game developers, game publishers, console manufacturers, etc.) and the role each one of them has, and how power dynamics are shifting between these market players as a consequence of the regulations and technological aspects of the eighth console
14 generation. Here, both types of analysis complement each other and this allows for a study and discussion of the different facets of the dedicated gaming industry.
Finally, to study gamers’ agency as a negotiation process, I also adhere to textual analysis to analyse the ways in which game developers, game publishers, and console manufacturers allow gamers to give feedback within videogames, via official forums and websites, and in reaction to accounts on social media platforms dedicated to a Triple-A game or console. In addition, I once more draw upon documentation analysis of paratexts, such as interviews in blog posts on official websites; so-called ‘development diaries’ as posted by game publishers and developers on their official YouTube channels; and annual reports and transcripts of quarterly calls to discuss to what extent game publishers, game developers, and console manufacturers adhere to gamers’ feedback. Thus, these different methods are
combined to be able to discuss how this negotiation process can influence game content, release strategies and formats.
Concluding, this thesis predominantly employs a mixed theoretical framework and multiple methodological approaches, which combine micro-economic perspectives and approaches with macro-economic ones, to argue that Triple-A games in their cultural commodity form are mutually constituted commodities shaped by game developers and game publishers, console manufacturers, power dynamics within the dedicated gaming industry, and gamers. In the next chapter, some of these micro-economic theoretical frameworks and methods are used to analyse whether since the launch of the eighth console generation new Triple-A commodity forms, release strategies and formats have emerged.
15 Chapter 2: Never-Ending Commodities
The Triple-A Commodity Form, Release Strategies and Formats
In this chapter I study the commodity form of Triple-A games and I examine release strategies and formats as used by game publishers and game developers. The first part of this chapter provides a historical and theoretical background on how the commodity form of Triple-A games, release strategies, and formats have changed throughout different console cycles. In the second part, I build upon this historical overview to argue for what I conceptualize as ‘episodic serialization’ and the ‘episodic format’: an additional release strategy and format for the Triple-A game commodity form that have emerged since the eighth console generation. Specifically, I argue for this release strategy and format through a case study of Destiny (2014-ongoing). This franchise is analysed through documentation analysis to examine its release plan as formulated by its game developer, Bungie, and game publisher, Activision, as stated in their ten-year contract, official annual reports, and transcripts of quarterly calls. In addition, I use textual analysis to identify how this release plan comes to the fore within Destiny’s game world and gameplay. Hereafter, I explain the terms ‘prime-time serials’ and ‘episodes’ as conceptualized within television studies. These concepts are then used to discuss the Destiny franchise and to argue for episodic serialization and the episodic format. Finally, I argue that this additional release strategy and format result in what I conceptualize as ‘never-ending commodities.’ Ultimately, I aim to partially answer the research question by arguing for and showing the ways in which the Triple-A commodity form – the software – is shaped through release strategies and formats as used by game developers and game publishers.
2.1. The Unfinished Commodity, Franchising, and Branched Serialization
As explained in Chapter 1, with regard to videogames, the process of commodification entails an analysis of the kind of Triple-A games that are produced, in what circumstances and how they are released (Nieborg, 13). Hereby, a Triple-A videogame in its cultural commodity form can be defined as a cultural product that is produced with the goal of generating revenues (i.e. capital) (Nichols, 1). During the first six console generations, which had no networked
functionalities yet, this Triple-A commodity form was characterized by games published on physical discs that were sold in retail stores. Once gamers completed their videogame, they could either play it again or store it within their collection. More importantly, these Triple-A games had to be finished and polished before they were sold, since game developers could not
16 correct errors in the software after they were distributed to retail stores. This was the case for famous Triple-A games such as Final Fantasy X (2002), Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), Tomb Raider (1996), and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell (2002).
However, since the seventh console generation – which refers to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 (2005) and Sony’s PlayStation 3 (2006) – this Triple-A commodity form has gradually
changed as a result of these consoles’ powerful hardware and the possibility to connect them to the internet (Nieborg, 20, 43). As David Nieborg argues, this console cycle gave rise to what he coins as the unfinished commodity (36). This entails that
before, or just after buying a new game, there is always the promise of additional digitally distributed material that ties directly into and thus extends the core artefact. There are patches, (content) packs, game modes and various other kinds of extra components or modules to prolong the magic – that is, until the sequel comes out and the entire process of anticipation, acquisition, and extended consumption starts all over again. In this sense, the next-gen Triple-A game never truly feels like it is finished. (ibid.)
Hence, the unfinished Triple-A commodity form should be understood as a cultural product that is first published on a physical disc, after which it can be extended with digital post-launch content. This hybrid nature, which combines a physical product form with a digital one, is enabled through the networked functionalities of the seventh console generation. These functionalities allow game developers and publishers to extend the game as offered on a disc with downloadable content released via digital storefronts controlled and maintained by consoles manufacturers, such as Sony’s PlayStation Store and Microsoft’s Xbox Games Store. Additionally, these functionalities enable game developers to correct errors, glitches and bugs through downloadable, obligatory software updates (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 19-20)15. However, gamers and game critics often criticize this latter possibility since an
increasing amount of Triple-A games are not properly debugged before they are distributed, and, therefore, gamers argue that they are used as unpaid software testers who should indicate whenever videogames do not function correctly (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 20;
15
It should be noted that during the sixth console generation, the PlayStation 2 (2000) and the Dreamcast (1999) already introduced networking possibilities (Schilling, 14). Both could be linked to the internet via a broadband connection which could be used to play some videogames online (ibid.). The main differences between these consoles and the consoles from the seventh and eighth console cycles is that the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast required memory cards, while the latter consoles have a built-in hard disc drive on which software updates released via the internet can be easily implemented and saved. During the sixth console generation this was not possible yet.
17 Mosco, 13). To illustrate, Batman: Arkham Knight (2015) and Assassin’s Creed: Unity (2015) both required gamers to install large updates on the day of release (so-called “day-one
patches”) to solve technological issues and to make them playable.
Besides these networked functions of dedicated consoles, the Triple-A commodity form is also shaped by specific release strategies and formats. The dedicated gaming industry can be characterized as a hit-driven business (Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Smith, and Tosca, 17; King and Krzywinska, 8; Williams, 42). As a consequence, game developers and publishers have to rely on blockbuster strategies. According to Anita Elberse, these entail that “entertainment businesses take their chances on a small group of titles and turn those into successes by investing heavily in their development, supporting them with a high level of promotional spending, often well in advance of their release into the marketplace, […] and distributing them as widely as possible” (4; also 18, 27, 42). Game publishers adhere to this by only investing in a few Triple-A franchises (a small portfolio) that have the potential of generating a high profit, since the increasingly costly development and marketing, and the pressure of generating revenues, lead to “risk-averse and cautious” business strategies (Newman, 46; also Nieborg, 76, 109; Williams, 47). Therefore, Triple-A games are “always positioned to be a hit” (Nieborg, 18). Yet, blockbuster strategies have several consequences for game
development. In general, game developers have to rely on game publishers for funding to be able to create a videogame (Newman, 30). In return, “the publisher then acquires the
intellectual property rights for the game” (Williams, 47), which means that the publisher can dictate when a videogame needs to be finished to assure revenues (Newman, 30). This leads to a situation wherein game development is characterized by repetition and standardization rather than creativity and innovation (ibid, 30), which is mainly the result of tight release schedules as formulated in contracts that aim at publishing videogames at “strategically significant points” and risk-aversion (ibid., 45; also Nichols, 5). As a consequence, many videogames resemble existing ones too much (Newman, 45-46). This is emphasized by Elberse who states that a tendency for creating cultural commodities that resemble existing blockbuster products not only suppresses innovation, but also prevents the development and production of commodities that may have blockbuster potential but which are considered to be too different (35).
Nieborg proposes two different, but related strategies for Triple-A videogames in their unfinished commodity form: franchising and branched serialization. The first strategy, franchising, refers to “the serialization of discrete game titles” (39). This strategy is also common for the film, television, and book industries (ibid.). Examples of franchising include
18 the instalments within Christopher Nolan’s Batman film trilogy (2005-2012) and
Rocksteady’s Batman videogame trilogy (2009-2015). However, unlike films, videogames are “platform dependent” (54), which makes the franchising strategies for these media inherently different (ibid.). New Triple-A games are only published when they have the potential of launching a franchise that encompasses several blockbuster sequels and spin-offs and which can assure revenues by averting risks (Newman, 30, 45; Nieborg, 52; Williams, 48). Whereas franchising has been common for the game industry since the first dedicated console cycle (Nieborg, 52), the second release strategy, branched serialization, has emerged during the seventh console generation because of these consoles’ networked capabilities16. Therefore, branched serialization is an exclusive release strategy for videogames as it adheres to their “textual and technological properties” (39). As Nieborg explains,
[i]n between waiting for the inevitable sequel in the franchise and in order to extend the longevity of the Triple-A title, there are modules that add onto or tie into the core artefact. The development and publishing of these modules adhere to the, what I will call, ‘branched serialization’ formatting strategy and breaks down into three
complementary sub-strategies, all which are ways to extend the primarily physically distributed disc-based copy. (38)
This thesis only elaborates on the first two sub-strategies: paid-for downloadable content (henceforth PDLC) and free downloadable content (hereafter DLC) (ibid.)17. The first sub-strategy entails additional, digital content that gamers can buy and implement within their original videogame (ibid.). This strategy consists of several formats. Firstly, expansion packs “can be defined as self-contained retail additions to commercial stand-alone proprietary game titles” (57), such as the Left Behind (2014) addition for The Last of Us (2013). Secondly, (multiplayer) maps provide extra game environments and game modes (38), as in the Arctic Strike, Raven Strike, and Khyber Strike (all 2012) additions for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (2012). Finally, there are smaller additions, micro-transactions, such as weapons and clothing for avatars (as in Uncharted 3 (2011)), racetracks (for example in Dirt 3 (2011)), and songs (for instance in SingStar: Ultimate Party (2014)) (ibid.). Although all of
16
Jonathan Hardy argues that “[t]he Internet and allied technologies profoundly challenged aspects of analogue processes of production and distribution of content, with far-reaching impact on business models of the established media firms” (120). Here, the branched serialization strategy as used by game developers and publishers serves as a case in point for Hardy’s statement.
17
The third sub-strategy is user generated content (UGC), which entails content – such as mods – that is made and digitally shared by gamers (i.e. the users) (Nieborg, 38). However, as stated in the previous chapter, a study of UGC is beyond the scope of this thesis.
19 these types of downloadable content are offered separately from each other, they can also be bought in a bundle via digital or physical season passes18. Additionally, the second sub-strategy, DLC, refers to free content that is either given away to reward gamers who pre-order games or buy them in a ‘new’ state, or to incite gamers to keep playing a certain videogame or to buy merchandise19 (38). In other words, branched serialization refers to all the additional, digital content that is released along with the launch of a new Triple-A game and in between instalments within a franchise, and which is not playable if gamers do not own the core game. However, it should be noted that buying downloadable content is not a requirement for gamers, because without it the game as bought on a disc forms a coherent whole and a complete gaming experience.
Moreover, Nieborg argues that both franchising and branched serialization are dominant, complementary, and fluid release strategies (39) which in conjunction constitute what he defines as the flow publishing logic (64, 76)20. This logic encompasses “the
circulation of additional content in-between sequels, such as downloadable content, content packs or expansion packs and [it] denotes the dominant logic of development, circulation and consumption in the Triple-A segment” (64). Hence, the flow publishing logic “stands for a particular publishing rhythm” (76), which aims to capture gamers within a videogame and franchise (50) by keeping them engaged with game content until the next instalment is released (38). Thus, during the first six console generations Triple-A games could only be franchised and they had to generate revenues when released and bought in a retail store. But since the seventh console cycle, videogames can be profitable for an extended period of time through a combination of franchising and branched serialization. Yet, the unfinished
commodity form, these release strategies and formats, and the flow publishing logic are all specific for the seventh console generation. As stated in the introduction of this thesis, the launch of a next-gen dedicated console cycle is usually characterized by a moment of disruption and transition (Nieborg, 4,27, 43). Therefore, this begs the question to what an
18 Physical season passes can be bought in retail stores and entail redeemable codes on a card, which can be
used in the online storefront of either the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One to download the post-launch add-ons.
19
To illustrate, gamers who pre-ordered Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013) via the Dutch website Bol.com received codes that were redeemable in the PlayStation Store or Xbox Games Store to receive extra weapons and outfits for the avatar.
20
Nieborg’s concept of the flow publishing logic is based on the work by Bernard Miège, who proposed the publishing model and flow model for cultural commodities (Nieborg, 71). The publishing model entails cultural products that are directly sold to consumers (ibid.), and the flow model refers to a continuous flow of content (ibid.). As Nieborg, argues, the flow publishing logic merges both models, which means that Triple-A games are directly distributed to gamers (via retail stores) on physical discs and are extended through a flow of digital post-launch content (76).
20 extent this commodity form, these release strategies and formats, and the flow publishing logic have changed since the launch of the eighth console cycle, which I will address next.
2.2. The Destiny Franchise and Episodic Serialization
The Destiny IP (2014-ongoing) is a remarkable franchise, as it has a release plan that encompasses an entire decade (Activision, 1-2). This release plan has been formulated in a leaked contract between Bungie and Activision which stipulates that although Bungie develops the franchise, it is Activision who owns this IP and who controls when and what kind of game content should be released (2, 4). The contract states that the development of Destiny began in 2010 (1) and that it will last until the end of 2020. From 2013 onwards, the aim has been to develop and release a new instalment in the Fall of every other year (2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019), and thus to publish four retail videogames in total (2). This franchising strategy was to be complemented with four “comets” which entail “major downloadable content expansion pack-type software” (1), and which would be released in the Fall of 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 (ibid.). Also, in between instalments and comets, Bungie and Activision agreed on releasing (P)DLC, which encompasses “smaller interstitial downloadable content software releases” (ibid.). This ten-year release plan is visualized in Figure 2.1, and it shows that through this combination of videogames published on disc and additional, downloadable content, the Destiny franchise’s commodity form can be conceptualised as an unfinished commodity. This illustration of the release plan also illustrates that Activision and Bungie aim at providing gamers with a continuous flow of game content – and themselves with a steady stream of revenues – by rhythmically releasing either new Destiny games, expansions or (P)DLC. Therefore, this release plan resembles the flow publishing logic of the unfinished Triple-A commodity form.
21 Fi gu re 2 .1 : Th e v isua liz at io n o f th e ten -y ear rel ease p la n fo r th e D est in y fran ch ise. H er e, t h e b lac k, ri gh t-p o in ti n g p o in ter repr ese n ts th o se m o m ent s when a n ew in st al m ent is rel ease d , t h e b lac k squ are refers to t h e p u b lishi n g o f ex p an si o n s, a n d t h e tran spa ren t squ ares in d ic at e when (P )D LC is m o st li ke ly rel ease d . A d d it io n al ly , t h e d ifferent c o lo u rs ill u st rat e th e rel ease p lan fo r eac h d isc ret e in st al m ent an d it s ac co m p an yi n g ex p an si o n an d (P )D LC , an d t h e co lo u red b ars p rese n t th e est im at ed ti m espan fo r eac h i n st al m ent .
22 However, the contract between Bungie and Activision stipulates a perfect scenario and in retrospect the release strategies for Destiny games, comets, and (P)DLC turned out to be very different. First, Destiny 1 was released in September 2014, a year later than planned due to development issues (especially with regard to game content and the game engine)
(Schreier, “The Messy, True Story,” n. pag.). Second, instead of just one expansion, the first instalment encompasses two expansions, Destiny Expansion I: The Dark Below (2014) and Destiny Expansion II: House of Wolves (2015), and one so-called “mega expansion” (Seeking Alpha, “Q2 2015 Results,” n. pag.), Destiny: The Taken King (2015). In addition, instead of PDLC, Bungie implemented free, live, and temporary events aimed at social gameplay activities for gamers. These are accompanied by micro-transactions, which consist of limited edition cosmetics (weapons, gear and other collectibles), for prices ranging between five and twenty-five euros. Finally, Bungie releases weekly updates and patches for the Destiny universe, which often implement DLC such as new gear and weapons for avatars, new challenges, and sometimes new gameplay modes. As a result, until May 2016, Bungie’s and Activision’s release schedule has been as presented in Figure 2.2.
23 Similar to Figure 2.1, Figure 2.2 shows that Bungie and Activision released a
continuous stream of predominantly digital content (DLC), albeit it also presents an additional format: the free, live, and temporary events aimed at social gameplay. As this release schedule illustrates, the launch of the mega expansion The Taken King led to an additional release strategy for downloadable content that aims at providing free content and micro-transactions to keep gamers engaged until the release of the next mega expansion, Rise of Iron, in the Fall of 2016 (Schreier, “Bungie Confirms,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q4 2015 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2016 Results,” n. pag.). Also, Destiny 2 is now set to be published in the Fall of 2017, which means that Destiny 1 has an estimated timespan of at least three years instead of two (Seeking Alpha, “Q4 2015 Results,” n. pag.). Thus, this actual release schedule illustrates that there is a greater reliance on digital content than formulated in the release plan, and that through a continuous stream of expansions, live events, micro-transactions, and DLC, Bungie’s and Activision’s strategy still adheres to the flow publishing logic.
However, the changes between the release plan and the actual release schedule raise the question why the initial strategy as formulated in the contract did not materialize. Besides time constraints and developmental issues, another cause is that the contract was drafted before the eighth console generation was launched and there were still many unknown factors with regard to “pricing, launch dates and quantities, the level of first-party support and, importantly, consumer purchase intent” (Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2013 Results,” n. pag.). Hence, Activision refrained from formulating new release plans for their franchises until after the console transition occurred (ibid.). Yet, now that the eighth console cycle is in full swing, release strategies focused on the distribution of digital content have once more proven to be successful for game publishers by generating immense amounts of revenues throughout the year (Needleman, n. pag.). Therefore, Activision now supplements their digital add-ons strategy with the possibility for gamers to download entire videogames, which is profitable as well (Seeking Alpha, “Q3 2014 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q2 2015 Results,” n. pag.)21. Thus, because of the networked capabilities and enhanced transaction possibilities of eighth-generation consoles, which make it easier to distribute digital content (Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2014 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q3 2014 Results,” n. pag.), release strategies are shifting towards a predominantly digitally oriented and year-round business model
21 It should be noted that some full games were already offered as download during the seventh console cycle
(Nieborg, 74). However, these were not as popular and profitable as they are now, as stated by game publishers such as EA and Activision (Needleman, n.pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q3 2014 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q2 2015 Results,” n. pag.).
24 (Needleman, n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2015 Results,” n. pag.; Seeking Alpha, “Q1 2016 Results,” n. pag.).
Considering that additional downloadable content is highly lucrative, it is not surprising that game developers and publishers experiment with new kinds of release plans. For instance, Activision released the Dark Below and House of Wolves expansions both digitally and bundled on a physical season pass, while the mega expansion The Taken King was only offered as a digital download to existing Destiny-gamers. As a result, it was the most downloaded day-one game in the history of the PlayStation Store (Waldman, n. pag.).
Additionally, as Figure 2.2 illustrates, since the launch of The Taken King Bungie and Activision have explored the implementation of micro-transactions. In conjunction with live events and DLC these can prolong the timespan of a Triple-A videogame game beyond a year by keeping gamers engaged with, and captured within, one particular instalment of a
franchise. Therefore, this is emblematic for the unfinished commodity form (Nieborg, 50) and for the digitally oriented business model. Also, Bungie and Activision experiment with the size of digital, additional content. As briefly mentioned, The Taken King was released as a mega expansion and, therefore, it was sold for twice the price of a ‘normal’ expansion (forty euros instead of twenty). As Activision states, “it is significantly bigger than other expansion packs we’ve had, but still smaller than an entirely new game. We’re calling it a mega
expansion for a reason” (Seeking Alpha, “Q2 2015 Results,” n. pag.). Hence, it can be characterized as an extensive and substantial addition to Destiny and the two previous expansions, which adds a new story-related missions, subclasses for avatars, new gameplay modes, and a new destination within the Destiny universe. Therefore, rather than calling The Taken King a “mega expansion,” I propose to call it an episode instead. The reason for this is that mega expansions are, as I argue in the rest of this chapter, inherently different from regular expansions in terms of function, content, and form.
Yet, the format of an episode, which is based on television terminology, is not entirely novel with regard to Triple-A games (Nieborg, 67). Although in general, “the episode, as a format, has not been a significant economic or cultural factor in the realm of console games” (ibid.), there are nevertheless some game publishers who used the term (ibid.). As Nieborg argues, during the seventh console cycle it specifically referred to digital additions that “do not technologically tie into the core game similar to map packs or expansion packs, and the episodes are positioned as economically discrete units” (ibid.). Here, these episodes
functioned as a new, stand-alone instalment in a franchise rather than as an addition that ties into an existing instalment. Hence, these kind of episodes adhered more to the franchising
