The aim of this thesis is to explore and analyse the development of the Swedish video and computer game industry. The main focus is on the Swedish game development industry. The research was conducted with two different methods. First with a macro approach where all Swedish game developers were identified and general data from the annual reports was collected. The second part is a case study with three Swedish game developing companies focusing on the production and development of the firms. The game 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. Yet little research has been done about the Swedish game industry. In general the game industry outside the larger videogame producing countries USA, Japan and the UK has been ignored to a large part in academic research. 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 today it includes some of the largest companies in the world. The Swedish industry follows the international pattern. Evidence suggests that the first Swedish games were created in the 1950’s at the large university computers. But a game developing industry seems to have developed a bit later than internationally when the first Swedish game companies were founded in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The Swedish industry entered an introduction phase from the middle of 1980’s, a couple of years after the introduction of personal computers, until the end of the 1990’s. An expansion phase started in 1998. The expansion was strong between 1998 to 2002 and 2006 to 2008. In 2008 the number of people employed in the industry had increased to over 1300. During the studied period the industry seems to have had constant problems making a profit. Especially in 2002 and 2003 the industry had economic problems and some of the larger companies went bankrupt. The distribution among the companies shows that the concentration within the industry is growing. A few companies have expanded rapidly and have well over a hundred employees. The industry is very gender segregated and the number of women working in the industry is under ten percent. To study the development on a micro level, three Swedish game developing companies were selected. The focus was the development and change in production and organisation. The structure of the industry seems to have been changing with the fast technical development. A more modular structure seems to be emerging within the industry. In a number of areas a modular system has emerged. It is possible to buy more parts and productions capacity on the market. It is possible to buy game engines and outsource motions-capture work to other specialized companies. The relation to game publishers seems to influence the companies and create uncertainty for the game developers when they do not own the rights to the intellectual properties. The three game developers also have a similar development being founded by computer interested young men wanting to pursuit their interest as a job. The Swedish subculture around the so called “demoscene” seems to have been a factor in the early development of the industry and a recruitment base for the early developers.

Information Technology (IT) enables organizations to involve consumers as co-creators of new products. By facilitating increased interaction between consumers and developers. IT allows consumers to influence and tailor product designs, but also allows developers to make use of distant knowledge to enhance and extend their product offerings and marketing. However, while much is said about the promises of IT-enabled co-creation, little is known of the strategic challenges associated with such IT use. To address this gap, we drew on IT literature to conduct a qualitative case study of IT-enabled co-creation in four video game development firms. In particular, we tried to understand how IT is affecting relationships between consumers and developers and when and why IT can be strategically used to enable co-creating coalitions in development processes. In so doing, it became clear that the promises of IT-enabled co-creation are associated with key strategic challenges. In particular, we identify three challenges that organizations must address in order to harness the strategic value of IT-enabled co-creation: the silent majority, quality assurance and managing expectations. We conclude this paper by discussing the future of IT and digital product development as well as implications for research and practice.

Digitalization has given rise to new opportunities for small and medium-sized video game development studios. No longer bound by physical products and creative restrains, the de-veloper has been empowered with independency. This qualitative study is aimed to under-stand how a development studio develops their business model and how underlying strate-gy is formulated. Additionally we evaluate the degree of innovativeness of the business model in terms of radical and incremental innovation according to Damanpour (1991). To achieve this we present a comprehensive literature review as to gain a more theoretical un-derstanding of industry mechanics and to be able to comprehend reasoning behind existing business models. We structure the dynamics of the business model by analyzing nine busi-ness model aspects as suggested by Osterwalder, Pigneur and Clark (2010). Following our theoretical framework we gain practical input from four separate case studies. An interpret-ative research method is used to gain better understanding of reasoning and choices made. We interpret our findings following a narrative approach which shows that the digitaliza-tion has preluded a paradigm shift in the sense that development studios have started to adopt activities otherwise performed by key partners. As barriers dissipate small and me-dium-sized development studios try to make sense of the current industry, but struggle in doing so. Having to reinvent themselves we conclude that a focus towards creating thicker customer relationships is considered and the idea of seeing games as a service is acknowl-edged to depict the future of the industry. The conclusions of this study contribute to both academic science and industry practice.

The game development processes behind entertainment games are not well understood. While there are studies that report on user interface evaluation in game production, there are very few studies that report on user interface design. The purpose of study is to explore and learn more about the game industry perspective and their processes behind user interface design. A systematic literature review was performed on the Game developers Conference database, GDC Vault. The review uncovered 105 presentations that relate to UI Design. A thematic analysis was performed to explore the eight most relevant presentations to the research question. The analysis resulted in two themes. The first theme describes UI designers’ experience of interdisciplinary collaboration. The second theme describe two seemingly conflicting goals in the UI design process: aesthetics and usability. The study contributes to the field of game development research with some knowledge about how the game industry create UI design.

The video game industry has in three decades gone from a garage hobby to a global multi-billion euro media industry that challenges the significantly older and established cultural industries. After decades of explosive growth the industry surprisingly finds itself in a crisis – in terms of sales, future trajectories and creative paradigms. The global gaming culture receives substantial attention from society, media and academia – but the industry itself appears in comparison as an enigmatic terra incognita with astonishingly little dedicated research. This thesis aims to amend this situation by presenting a study at the cross-section of the video game industry, game studies, literary theory, cultural industries and business studies. It deals with the following question: how does the global game industry relate to its own product, in terms of communication and media dimensions, and what are the (business) consequences, in terms of production, strategy and commercial/creative innovation, of this relationship? This study’s departure point is constituted by a comprehensive description of the industry’s structure, dynamics and processes, based on extensive interviews with industry professionals. It is followed by an examination and comparison of the game industry with other media/cultural industries in relation to their economy and business dynamics. With inconclusive answers regarding the medium-industry relation, this study proceeds by exploring literary theories from the field of game studies, in order to gain insights into the dynamics of medium and industry. Literary theories from ludology and narratology provide rewarding perspectives on this inquiry, since it is found that the ontological dichotomy of simulation vs. respresentation present in the interpretational realm of the game medium is also reflected in the industry and its dynamics. This has pivotal consequences for the analysis of the game industry. This study concludes by positing the current critical condition of the industry as an extremely decisive moment in its history: will it become a truly universal mass-medium, or will it continue down its subcultural path? Subcultural “interactive cinema” meets mass-cultural media of simulation – how will the industry evolve? / QC20100708

De nos jours, la notion d’immersion est largement utilisée, voire galvaudée, par l’industrie du jeu vidéo pour décrire les nouvelles expériences de jeu vécues par les joueurs, notamment lorsqu’ils utilisent des contrôleurs de mouvement. Il est donc intéressant de comprendre comment cette notion s’insère dans le processus de conception des jeux vidéo et comment les concepteurs de jeux vidéo mobilisent cette notion. Pour essayer de comprendre comment les concepteurs de jeux vidéo conçoivent leurs expériences de jeu dans ce contexte, nous avons réalisé une série de cinq entrevues avec des concepteurs de la région montréalaise. Nous avons porté une attention particulière à recueillir le discours de concepteurs indépendants et de concepteurs œuvrant dans de grands studios afin d’obtenir une diversité dans le type d’approches. Nous avons relevé que les concepteurs de jeux vidéo sont loin de partager la même définition de la notion d’immersion. Qui plus est, cette notion n’est souvent pas directement mobilisée par les concepteurs. En effet, les résultats de notre recherche ont démontré que les concepteurs recherchent plutôt à intéresser les joueurs par des stratégies d’engagements plutôt que de les « immerger ». Selon nos concepteurs, un joueur engagé signifie qu’il éprouve un plaisir sincère dans l’acte même de jouer. / Nowadays, the concept of immersion is widely used or overused by the video game industry to describe new gaming experiences for players, especially when using motion controllers. It is therefore interesting to understand how this concept fits into the process of designing video games and how game developers mobilize this notion. To try to understand how video game designers design their gameplay experiences in this context, we conducted a series of five interviews with designers in the Montreal area. We paid particular attention to interview independent developers and designers working in major studios to obtain a diversity of approaches. We found that game developers are far from sharing the same definition of immersion. Furthermore, this notion is often not directly mobilized by the designers themselves. Indeed, the results of our research have shown that designers use strategies of engagement rather than "immersion". According to our designers, an engaged player means he feels a sincere pleasure in the act in itself of playing.

Le jeu vidéo est un produit qui ne cesse de gagner en popularité alors que les expériences ludiques tendent de plus en plus à se diversifier. Les recherches académiques sur l’objet vidéoludique se sont multipliées dans les dernières années afin de comprendre les particularités du nouveau média, surtout en ce qui concerne l’analyse du produit lui-même et sa réception, mais laissant peu de place à sa créa-tion et sa production. Montréal est un lieu idéal pour étudier le médium : en peu de temps, l’industrie du jeu vidéo est devenue l’un des fleurons industriels québécois. La présente étude s’est intéressée aux développeurs de Montréal, ville où se situe la plus grande partie des studios au Québec, afin de connaître leur perception du produit vidéoludique et de l’industrie. Au travers d’une perspective phénoménologique, un séjour ethno-graphique a été effectué dans un studio de production vidéoludique où plusieurs développeurs ont été observés et interviewés. Ce travail s’inscrit dans une anthropologie du travail et rend compte de la com-plexité qui émerge lorsqu’un travail essentiellement créatif vient se heurter à des motifs de production strictes. Plus encore, il rend compte d’un paradigme opposant directement la création et la production dans un milieu qui se présente comme une avenue prometteuse pour une jeunesse désirant vivre d’un travail créatif. Cette condition est attribuable à la nature du jeu vidéo lui-même qui se situe, selon Kline, Dyer-Witheford et De Peuter (2003), à mi-chemin entre la culture, la technologie et les visées commerciales (marketing). Les développeurs se trouvent donc entre deux eaux : d’un côté ils sont influencés par la culture du jeu, relevant de leurs pratiques, leurs préférences et des commu-nautés de développeurs et, de l’autre côté, par l’industrie qui dicte les façons de faire et viennent selon eux minimiser leur potentiel créatif. / The video game is increasing in popularity as the ludic experience is diversi-fying. Within the last few years, it became the research field of many academics trying to understand the new media either by studying the game itself or its recep-tion. However, they put aside its creation or production which is an important part of the cultural product. Montreal is an ideal place to study the video game since it rapidly became one of the most valued sectors in Quebec’s industry, and because most of the studios are in Montreal. This research focus on Montreal’s game developers and their vision of the product and the industry by using a phenomenological approach. Data were collected through an ethnographical fieldwork where many developers were ob-served and interviewed. This study inserts in an anthropology of work and focus on the complexity that emerges when creative work encounters productive work. We elaborate a paradigm opposing creativity and productivity in a workplace that is seen to be essentially creative for a youth wanting to be creative. The video game’s nature can explain this situation since it is directly influenced, as Kline, Dyer-Witheford et De Peuter (2003) argued, by culture, technology and marketing. Developers occupy a space that is primarily influenced, on the one hand, by their culture, practices, and the developers’ community but, on the other hand, they need to subscribe to the industry’s constraints and way to do a game that dimin-ishes their creative potential.

De nos jours, la notion d’immersion est largement utilisée, voire galvaudée, par l’industrie du jeu vidéo pour décrire les nouvelles expériences de jeu vécues par les joueurs, notamment lorsqu’ils utilisent des contrôleurs de mouvement. Il est donc intéressant de comprendre comment cette notion s’insère dans le processus de conception des jeux vidéo et comment les concepteurs de jeux vidéo mobilisent cette notion. Pour essayer de comprendre comment les concepteurs de jeux vidéo conçoivent leurs expériences de jeu dans ce contexte, nous avons réalisé une série de cinq entrevues avec des concepteurs de la région montréalaise. Nous avons porté une attention particulière à recueillir le discours de concepteurs indépendants et de concepteurs œuvrant dans de grands studios afin d’obtenir une diversité dans le type d’approches. Nous avons relevé que les concepteurs de jeux vidéo sont loin de partager la même définition de la notion d’immersion. Qui plus est, cette notion n’est souvent pas directement mobilisée par les concepteurs. En effet, les résultats de notre recherche ont démontré que les concepteurs recherchent plutôt à intéresser les joueurs par des stratégies d’engagements plutôt que de les « immerger ». Selon nos concepteurs, un joueur engagé signifie qu’il éprouve un plaisir sincère dans l’acte même de jouer. / Nowadays, the concept of immersion is widely used or overused by the video game industry to describe new gaming experiences for players, especially when using motion controllers. It is therefore interesting to understand how this concept fits into the process of designing video games and how game developers mobilize this notion. To try to understand how video game designers design their gameplay experiences in this context, we conducted a series of five interviews with designers in the Montreal area. We paid particular attention to interview independent developers and designers working in major studios to obtain a diversity of approaches. We found that game developers are far from sharing the same definition of immersion. Furthermore, this notion is often not directly mobilized by the designers themselves. Indeed, the results of our research have shown that designers use strategies of engagement rather than "immersion". According to our designers, an engaged player means he feels a sincere pleasure in the act in itself of playing.

數位娛樂產業為新型態產業，自2000 年數位元年起，全球各國無不積極推 動相關建設，期望帶動相關動畫、線上影音、數位遊戲等的整體發展。由於數位 內容關係到一般大眾有關生活上有關娛樂、文化、教育、出版等產業脈動，近幾 年迅速成為眾所期待的焦點。數位化娛樂從技術面開始帶動產業的革新，各種因 素相互發生變化，加上消費者行為發生變化的結果，使得企業發覺過往商業模式 有所不足。企業必須審視自身、重新界定價值才能抓住機會。台灣科技業實力堅 強，聞名於世；但是相對於日韓等國，數位娛樂產業之發展規模尚淺。然而數位 化議題日趨重要，相關發展機會如雨後春筍般出現，不得等閒視之。 本論文在文獻探討主題上，把焦點放在幾個重點：數位娛樂產業、商業模式、 商業模式創新。本研究試圖了解當今數位化趨勢與特徵為何，並從學者文獻中整 理理論架構，找出商業模式重要面向為何。接下來以任天堂與Sony Computer Entertainment 兩間公司為分析個案，描述兩間公司如何發展商業模式面對社群 遊戲挑戰，用以實證關於商業模式理論架構以及歸納個案產業特徵與發展特色。 最後，本研究歸納出以下結論：商業模式之建立以核心價值為中心，且核心 價值做為一切的基礎，不會隨意變動。企業應該妥善運用資源擺脫惰性，求新求 變，以靈活、充滿彈性的商業模式來發揮核心價值，因應挑戰。當環境條件允許 的情況下，企業便能夠以自身能力來改變環境，或者有時亦須被動地因應環境需 求做調整。最後，商業模式之建立為一連續過程，而在模式建立的過程中，產業 之間也有機會產生連結，進而合作，共創、共享價值。 關鍵字：數位娛樂產業、商業模式、電玩產業、任天堂、SCE、社群遊戲。 / Digital entertainment industry is a new style industry. Since 2000s, the first year of digital era, the whole world began to boost the related projects of the industry, and looked forward to drive the development of animations, online studios and digital games. Because digital contents have a lot to do with activities of general entertainment, culture, education and publishing, recently it has brought everyone’s eyes on it. Digital entertainment brought the innovation from the technique side, different elements started to have an effect on the others. What’s more, the change of consumer behavior made enterprises found that old business models are no longer apply to new environment. They needed to check themselves again and try to redefine their core value, so can they catch new chances. Technology industry in Taiwan is strong and world-famous. But when it comes to compare with Japan, Korea or other countries, development of digital entertainment industry is still in the beginning stage. However, digital issues are more important, opportunities also sprang up like mushrooms. It should not be treated lightly. This study has focused on several subjects: digital entertainment industry, business model and innovation of business models. First, the study had tried to realize the characteristic of current trend of digitization, and then tried to find out major factors of building business models by classification of research documents. Second, the study has chosen two target companies: Nintendo and Sony Company Entertainment as goal of analysis, and tried to tell how the two companies faced the challenges of social games and online games by developing their own business models. Thus, we can prove how the business model theories work and generalize the feature and characteristic of target industry. In the end, the study has conclusions as below: The establishment of business should be based on core value, and it is the foundation of everything and will never be changed easily. Companies need to use their resources by flexible applications to get rid of laziness, fully perform their core values by varied business models and face the challenges. With the availability of environment, enterprises can actively change the world by their own power, or they have to adjust themselves to adapt the circumstance. At last, Building of business model is a continuous process. When running a new model, there may be cooperation between different industries and different companies can create and share the value together. Key words: digital entertainment industry, business model, game industry, Nintendo, SCE, social game.

This thesis examines the growing trend of cinematisation in computer and console games, where both visual styles and industrial practices are concerned. The ever-increasing runtime of cinematic cutscenes in games, and the stylization of game graphics in accordance with established film genres are of primary focus regarding the gaming industry's absorption and interpretation of cinematic visuals. Comparisons of film-game convergence are based on the proliferation of non-gameplay promotional trailers and their role in hype-generation; as well as game producer strategies of franchising, cross-promotion, and initial-sales business model. Comparison is thus accomplished with regards to a number of fundamental similarities in both industries' business and commercial tactics, as stemming from the risk and reward-based investment financing system prevalent in both industries. Finally, a selection of user and industry professional video responses to the aforementioned trends are examined, both for their value in counter-balancing the assumptions of success which often follow staggeringly high initial sales figures; and for their value in layering the depth of film-game convergence even further, as they respond to the recent, filmic trends in games using the very language of film.