The North American Game Industry - The Video Game Industry: Formation, Present State, and Future - page 82

5 The North American Game Industry

Casey O'Donnell

The North American game industry is characterized by intense work prac-
tices, high risk and volatility. The North American context produces more
than 30 per cent of the games on the market. It lends itself to high-stakes
dramas: long hours, looming deadlines, hardcore workers, big money pay-
outs and tremendous losses. This chapter breaks down the structure of
the North American game industry and its relationships with the broader
global game industry. It begins by examining the historical roots of the
game industry and the rise of large game console manufacturers. The chap-
ter examines the various typologies of game studios and the emergence of
“indie” game development and the relationship between developers and
game publishers. Finally, the chapter turns to the representative organiza-
tions, demographics and problematic work conditions found in the North
American context.

INTRODUCTION

The video game industry in the U.S., as a social and historical entity, has
recently entered its middle ages. After more than thirty years as a thing
that can be called “an industry,” it now fi nds itself, and the social/technical
assemblages that it creates the object of critical and scholarly inquiry. A
signifi cant divide remains between those two objects of concern, the world
of game creators and games/game worlds themselves. Research tends to
focus exclusively on content or production, with a few notable exceptions.
The global game industry and the virtual game worlds it creates are sprawl-
ing, historically situated, socio-technical assemblages that require greater
inquiry. As analysts continue to gain access to the halls of video game devel-
opment studios, hardware manufacturers and game publishing companies,
undoubtedly they will tug apart the links between these worlds. Although
it is reasonable for analysts to study the virtual worlds of games as bounded
fi eld sites “on their own,” players undoubtedly encounter the externality of
the game world and its intersections with the global game industry.