Japanese games have received extensive attention in academic and non-academic research. However, there has been a noticeable lack of study on Japanese adult games, despite their significant presence within the industry. Given the growing popularity of adult games in the Western market in recent years and the increasing incorporation of gender and sex studies in gaming research, it is crucial to investigate this overlooked aspect of gaming.This thesis aims to conduct a comparative study of Japanese adult games, recognizing their unique significance and contrasting presence with the Western gaming landscape, where adult games have not gained the same level of prominence as in Japan. The research will explore the underlying reasons for this disparity and employ an ethnographic approach, incorporating interviews and surveys, to uncover the cultural, economic, and societal factors that have contributed to the existence of this anomaly.

This licentiate thesis describes the development of the Swedish computer and video game industry. The main focus is on the Swedish game development industry. Little research on the industry has been done and the purpose is to define the companies involved and to create an initial overview of the development of the industry. This overview will later be used as a platform for the doctorial thesis. Games are a growing culture form and today a lot of people are playing different types of computer and video games. Internationally the industry has expanded and some of the successful games have generated spectacular revenues. In Sweden the industry has received attention from different actors like universities, government bodies and media. There are today educations that are focused on game development and there are programs which allocates grants towards game companies. The rapid development in the computers technology has had a great impact on the game industry, which is dependent on hardware development to create games. The first computer games were made for some of the very first computers in the 1940´s and 1950´s. In the 1970´s a market for games was created when arcade machines and somewhat later home consoles were introduced. The industry has grown and includes today some of the largest companies in the world. The Swedish industry follows the international pattern but developed a bit later and the first Swedish game companies were founded in the late 1980´s. The industry has expanded, especially between 1998 and 2002. In 2005 the number of people employed in the industry had increased to over 600. During the period under study the industry seems to have had a constant problem with making a profit. Especially in 2002 and 2003 the industry has had economic problems and some of the lager companies were bankrupt.

The game industry is a fast growing market. What have been seen recently are a high turnovers and a rapid increase of both game companies and their employees. The game market is developing and the game companies are trying to keep up with the market. Both when it comes to the development of games and also to reach new levels in the design process. The design process is unique and the game companies have different ways to develop their products. The methods are different depending on the game company but the basic foundation is to use support in the development process of the product. The question we ask ourselves is: How do game companies proceed in their design process when the surroundings are changing at a rapid pace? This thesis aim to find out how the deigns process function in the Swedish game industry. Focus will be on today´s design process but also on how the development is preceded. Through a quantitative interview and a qualitative survey we analyses the current situation of today‟s Swedish game companies in terms of the design processes. The result shows that all the respondents use their design process with a combination of their own methods and previous research. How to create an idea differs depending on the game companies. The implementation of the idea may vary and some of the methods are retained when they are considered important. The market also has a certain influence of how a design process should be performed. The customers have become more knowledgeable and have higher demands on how the game should perform. Therefore, the gaming companies need to adapt to the market development in order to achieve their success. / Spelbranschen är en bransch som expanderar snabbt med hög omsättning och en snabb ökning av spelföretag och anställda. I och med att spelbranschen och spelutvecklingen går framåt i en hög takt försöker spelföretag hålla samma takt med spelutvecklingen för att nå nya framsteg och utveckling i sina designprocesser. I en designprocess har spelföretag olika tillvägagångssätt för att utveckla sina spelprodukter. Tillvägagångssätt kan se olika ut beroende på vilket spelföretag man arbetar för, men den grundläggande tanken är att använda dem som hjälpmedel vid utvecklingen av en spelprodukt. Men hur går spelföretag tillväga med sina designprocesser när omgivningen förändras i en rask takt? Vårt examensarbete går ut på att undersöka hur en designprocess ser ut i dagsläget av den svenska spelbranschen och hur de går tillväga. Genom en kvalitativ intervju och en kvalitativ enkät har vi fått en bild av hur det ser ut för dagens svenska spelföretag när det gäller deras designprocesser. Resultatet visar att samtliga respondenter som vi har fått in, utför sin designprocess med en kombination av sina tillvägagångssätt med tidigare forskning. Idéskapande kan vara olika från olika spelföretag, genomförande av idé kan variera, men en del av metoder behålls då de anses vara viktiga. Marknaden har även en viss påverka på hur en designprocess utförs. Kunderna bli mer kunnig och har höga krav på hur spelet ska se ut, därför måste spelföretagen anpassa sig efter marknadens utveckling för att kunna nå sina framgångar.

Lootboxes currently cause a frequent debate in the games industry where the discussion is often focused on the connection to gambling. In this thesis an addition to this debate is made by taking a closer look at Gacha design – a way to design games around monetization – through theory and player opinions. Conclusions point to that if Gacha is viewed as a spectrum of strength the discussion can benefit from an increased understanding of all monetization systems within games regardless of their abstract definitions. The data was collected through focus groups and analyzed based on current research of the common topics that surfaced during the focus group discussions. The thesis found that overall knowledge surrounding Gacha was lacking and by looking at Gacha as a design method opened up for a broader discussion with connections to Lootboxes. / Lootboxes orsakar för närvarande en återkommande debatt inom spelindustrin där diskussionens fokus ofta är kring kopplingen till hasardspel. I detta examensarbete görs ett tillägg till debatten genom en närmre undersökning av Gacha design – vilket är ett designverktyg för inkomstgenerering – genom teori och spelares åsikter. Slutsatserna pekar mot att om Gacha är sett som ett spektrum av styrka kan diskussionen nyttjas för att bidra till en ökad förståelse av alla former av inkomstgenereringssystem inom spel oberoende av deras abstrakta definitioner. Data samlades genom fokusgrupper och analyserades utifrån nuvarande forskning runt de vanligaste ämnen som uppstod under fokusgruppernas diskussioner. Detta examensarbetet fann att den övergripande kunskapen kring Gacha var begränsad och genom att titta på Gacha som en design method öppnade upp för en bredare diskussion med kopplingar till Lootboxes.

The remarkable growth of the video game industry has triggered an interest for the capabilities that video game companies need in order to seize opportunities in the market. Companies that continuously provide product innovations are arguably better equipped to succeed in the dynamic, digitized video game landscape. Market sensing capabilities have been brought forward as particularly useful in environments with these characteristics and research suggests that user communities could be critical sources of external knowledge for video game companies. Hence, the aim of this study is to provide a framework where these concepts are combined into a unified dynamic capability, Community Sensing Capability, and to quantitatively test its effect on product innovativeness. An interview-administered questionnaire was used to gather data, resulting in a sample of 72 observations. The capability builds on three different sub-processes; sensing, sensemaking and response. Reliable measurements were developed for Community Sensing Capability, sensing and response respectively. The regression analysis indicate that sensing and response are positively related to product innovativeness, while Community Sensing Capability is not significantly related. This study contributes to literature by shedding light on a new phenomenon and giving initial insights to how the Community Sensing Capability can be exploited in innovation processes.

The diploma thesis entitled "The position of video game industry among the creative industries in the Czech Republic" brings up a complex view on the Czech video game market. It has been created based on data acquired from numerous local and international scientific studies and also using interviews with selected representatives of the Czech video game market. It has turned out that the Czech video game industry builds up its economical position step by step. Its year-on-year turnover grows and thus gradually counts up to even larger portion of the return of cultural and creative industries. This happens spontaneously, without systematic support from the national or local governments. However, such a support is common in other European countries. Interested parties that play a part in the Czech video game market would be (according to conducted interviews) very interested in this kind of support, mainly in form of tax relief and the promotion of local developers abroad (which would also bring foreign investors into the country). Thus, the claim that the implementation of institutional support of Czech video game would solve its two most acute problems, is valid. All addressed representatives (coming from different segments of video game market) have confirmed that these two issues are the lack of financial and marketing support. In case these barriers of market development are removed, the process of growth of the Czech video game market as a strong member of the industry would speed up significantly. All abovementioned facts, along with other aspects of the problematics, are reflected in SOAR analysis that brings the thesis to an end.

The Swedish game industry has seen tremendous growth and a global impact in the market. Despite the successes there is a lack of research on the matter. By exploring the global value chains of game companies in Skövde (a game industry hub in Sweden) the thesis intends to generate understanding of and map out value chain paths along with identifying critical factors for future growth and maintenance of the leading position in the market. A comprehensive overview of the industry cluster case of Skövde has been achieved through the use of semi-structured interviews with six local game companies. As a result of the study confirmation and extension of the thesis grand theory, the GVC literature, was achieved. A number of critical factors for practical utilization were identified, specifically the relationship with the publisher, the developer’s passion for the project & creative freedom together with contacts in the industry.  A number of scientific contributions have been made through our research. By exploring the GVC in a previously under-researched context we have made a contribution by confirming previous theory as well as laying a base for future research and an extension of the literature in the institutional context-section of the GVC literature. The critical factors findings have the potential of a direct impact on the practical management of the business side of the industry. Finally, as a result of the discovery of close connections with the Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Relational Exchange Theory (RET) theories we have laid the groundwork for future research in these areas as well. / Den svenska spelindustrin har sett en stor tillväxt och har en påverkan på den globala marknaden. Trots framgångarna råder en brist på forskning inom området. Genom att utforska den globala värdekedjan hos spelföretag i Skövde (ett nav för spelindustrin i Sverige) ämnar studien att generera en förståelse av och att kartlägga den globala värdekedjan samt identifiera kritiska faktorer för framtida tillväxt och upprätthållandet av den ledande positionen i marknaden. En omfattande översikt av industri-klustret i Skövde har uppnåtts genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med sex lokala spelföretag. Som resultat av studien har uppsatsens bas-teori, GVC-litteraturen, bekräftats och utvidgats. Ett antal kritiska faktorer för praktisk användning identifierades, specifikt relationen med publiceraren, utvecklarnas passion för projektet & kreativ frihet tillsammans med kontakter inom industrin. Ett antal teoretiska bidrag har frambringats genom vår forskning. Genom att undersöka GVC i en tidigare underforskad kontext har vi bidragit genom att bekräfta tidigare teori samt lagt grunden för framtida forskning och utvidgning av det institutionella kontextavsnittet inom GVC-litteraturen. Upptäckten av de kritiska faktorerna har potential för en direkt inverkan på den praktiska förvaltningen av industrins affärssida. Slutligen, som ett resultat av studien upptäckte vi nära anknytningar med teorier som Transaction Cost Analysis (TCA), Resource Dependency Theory (RDT) and Relational Exchange Theory (RET) vilket innebär att vi lagt en grund för framtida forskning även inom dessa områden.

Индустрия интерактивных развлечений – относительно новый сложный рынок. Однако, согласно оценке ряда экспертов в области информационных технологий во втором десятилетии 21 века она добилась необходимого уровня, для того, чтобы числиться полноценным сектором всемирной экономики. В данной диссертации рассмотрены основные аспекты целесообразности развития данной отросли в мировой экономике. Виртуальные компьютерные игры - сравнительно новая зона исследований и практики в Российской федерации. Начиная с 80-х годов двадцатого столетия были предприняты первоначальные усилия осмысления виртуальных компьютерных игр. Не взирая на большую скорость распространения, это явление было изучено недостаточно глубоко. Из-за недоступности в Российской федерации настолько развитой индустрии медиа-развлечений, как на Западе, изучение компьютерных игр по масштабам проведённой работы сейчас не столь велико, как странах западного мира. Большая часть трудов, сделанных на тему компьютерных игр в Российской федерации, анализирует их с точки зрения производственных либо гуманитарных нюансов, а никак не с экономических и тем более маркетинговых. / The interactive entertainment industry is a relatively new and complex market. However, according to a number of experts in information technology in the second decade of the 21st century, it has achieved the necessary level, in order to be considered a full-fledged sector of the global economy. In this dissertation, the main aspects of the expediency of development of this branch in the world economy. Virtual computer games are a relatively new area of research and practice in the Russian Federation. Since the 80s of the twentieth century, initial efforts have been made to comprehend virtual computer games. Despite the high rate of propagation, this phenomenon has not been studied in depth. Due to the inaccessibility in the Russian Federation of a well-developed media entertainment industry, as in the West, the study of computer games in terms of the scope of the work carried out is not so great as the countries of the Western world. Most of the work done on the topic of computer games in the Russian Federation, analyzes them from the point of view of production or humanitarian nuances, and in no way from economic or even more marketing ones.

With the rise of Internet, Web and new media technologies come increased opportunities for audience to recreate media content and influence its flow across different media platforms. The fan as a demanding yet enthusiastic consumer has become a centrepiece of media industries' marketing strategies. On the one hand, this qualitative change often described as participatory culture means a giant leap forward for fans, who can now serve new roles within the media industry. On the other, it represents a potential exploitation of media users, as unpaid volunteers do the labour professionals are paid for. This study investigates this tension in a case of videogame fans. On their official websites, videogame developers encourage fans to contribute with their fan art harnessing fan creativity for their advertising purposes. Convergence culture raises conflicts and compromises between creators of fan art (fan artists), and the owners of the copyrighted works they appropriate (game companies). This study addresses three main issues: (1) the way and circumstances under which game companies are displaying fan art on their official websites, (2) how fans understand the tensions between empowerment and exploitation, how do they address the issue of free labour, (3) how fans view issues concerning intellectual property...

In 2012 and 2014, two hashtags, #1ReasonWhy and #GamerGate, exposed a highly sexist video game industry that was not welcoming female participation. This was affecting women working or wanting to work in it. Feminist technoscience studies explain this phenomenon by applying theories concerning the masculine domination of our society and the perception of women as “others.” Despite the numerous challenges and struggling for inclusion, women still create video games, many as independents, taking advantage of free game engines. Hence, my aim in this thesis was to understand the interconnections between technology, specifically in the video game industry, and its social impact. I focus on the balance of male and female participation in the video game creation, the role of game engines, and the enablers and inhibitors for female inclusion, as an important component of decision making for organizational change in this industry. I conducted an inductive qualitative research approach with eight semi-structured interviews with female video game creators from the Latin American region. My findings reveal that using free/affordable technology, such as game engines, is not enough to guarantee female inclusion in the video game industry. This industry is resistant to change and tends to reinforce male predominance by hiring only a specific type of worker that matches the perfect gamer, usually young males. The participation of women in the video game creation teams (which include developers, designers, artists, testers, among others) would bring balance, diversity, new voices and fresh/new ideas, as well as women empowerment to the table. In addition, eleven inhibitors and eight enablers were identified as factors for female inclusion in the video game industry.