Background: Tough competition, time- and resource constraints, and changing consumer demands in the video game industry requires business models that can cope with the pressure.    Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to use business model framework in order to better understand how independent video game developers develop their business models. We aim to contribute to the development of business model literature within the context of independent video game development by further the understanding of how a business model framework can be utilized in this new context.   Method: A case study method was used, focusing on a single-case and interviews with participants from the case company.   Conclusion: We further develop the BMC by proposing to divide the BMC for independent video game developers into a pre-release and post-release BMC to better describe the business model for an independent video game developer and the business model evolution from pre-release to post-release.

Context: Today there are a lot of different kinds of game engines to choose from, but is one of these engines more suitable for a developer with a beginners' experience in game development? Objective: This is something we explore in order to help teachers choose a suitable engine for teaching game development to beginners.In this study, two teams of two persons each compare two of these engines, Godot and Unity. Method: We conducted a study, consisting of six iterations, to observe the development of a prototype game using the two engines. We collected data during the development of the game using a think-aloud protocol and a questionnaire, and after the development using a questionnaire that included the SUS scale for assessing the overall usability of the game engines. Results: The Godot engine have been focused on completing their documentation and the documentation is somewhat directed to more experienced developers. In comparison the Unity engine got more solutions outside of the documentation and also got their own special guides towards beginners.Although Godot engine got a more simpler GUI which will be easier at first but as the tasks became more difficult this became more of a disadvantage and some solutions were not found easily among the documentation. In comparison the Unity engine got more menus and can seem a lot to a beginner but became to be more helpful the harder the tasks became and even though most solutions were not found among the documentation, there were enough information from other sources to solve all problems with an easy search.Neither of the engines provided with a lot of helpful information within the tool, although the Godot engine had some cases where the tool would let the developers know a certain component was needed. Conclusion: Our main conclusion is that Godot is a good entry point into game development but as the tasks gets more difficult students would need the teacher’s help in order to solve the tasks as easy as with Unity. In contrast, Unity starts more difficult but as tasks gets more difficult Unity have more solutions online, which makes it more suitable if students are to develop on their own.\\This study is rather small with only four participants and this limits the results, for future studies it would be best to have more participants. Keywords: Cognitive task analysis, game developer experience, Godot, Unity, game engine, usability

The notion of aesthetic unity has garnered substantial attention within the realm of contemporary art, particularly in the domains of film and gaming. These creative mediums encompass a multitude of design elements, making the pursuit of aesthetic unity all the more crucial. In the context of traditional 3D action games, achieving aesthetic unity holds paramount importance in crafting captivating and immersive experiences. Notably, combat systems play a pivotal role in attaining aesthetic unity as they often serve as the primary avenue for player interaction. This research delves into the concept of aesthetic unity in action games, with a specific focus on strategies employed in traditional 3D action game design. Through interviews with seasoned developers possessing extensive research and development experience, this study utilizes the interview research methodology to extract valuable insights and summarize the strategies employed in the development process. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of development models, gameplay design, and other essential design elements, such as plot, in fostering aesthetic unity within the realm of 3D action games.

Computer and video games have taken the world by storm, since their creation the interest for these games has increased and approximately 62% of the Swedish population now plays computer or video games. A game character is of tremendous importance in a game and plays a central part in the whole game, however, the portrayal of these characters are often unrealistic. The female characters, however few, are often portrayed as oversexualized or subjugated as sexual objects. In this paper, a research is made studying the game experience from women’s point of view, trying to clarify how women are affected by the game characters they are offered in these games and how they are affected by them. The method used to investigate the thesis in this study is a qualitative study where a focus group consisting of ten female gamers are interviewed. The data collected in this study is the responses from the interviews. The central parts of their answers will be the topics in the results and discussion. The results show that game characters and how they are portrayed as well as how the game is designed affects the gamers greatly.

Cette thèse s'inscrit dans le domaine de l'ingénierie des Environnements Virtuels pour l’Apprentissage Humain (EVAH). Les jeux épistémiques numériques (JEN) sont une catégorie des jeux sérieux dédiés à la résolution de problèmes complexes, pluridisciplinaires et non-déterministes afin de proposer des situations d'apprentissage plus authentiques.La première partie de la thèse est consacrée à l’exploration des dimensions spatiales, temporelles et sociales des interactions dans un JEN. Des expérimentations ont été menées en milieu écologique et ont montré un apport pédagogique par une augmentation de l'engagement des apprenants. La conception des prototypes expérimentés a mis en évidence que le développement informatique des interactions immersives d'un EVAH demeure actuellement réservé à des spécialistes en Réalité Mixte ou Virtuelle (RMV).Ainsi la seconde partie de la thèse a été dédiée à la proposition d'un environnement de développement (MIREDGE). Une interface de programmation visuelle permet aux développeurs de modéliser des interactions sans connaissance spécifique en RMV par réutilisation de blocs. Des expérimentations ont permis d'évaluer l'efficacité et l'efficience de MIREDGE pour le profil des développeurs RMV ainsi que celui des développeurs non-initiés à la RMV. Les développeurs RMV ayant une nécessité à poursuivre leur algorithme au-delà de la programmation visuelle, MIREDGE permet une génération automatique de code dans leur moteur de jeu. L'approche garantie une large compatibilité avec les environnements de développement et les périphériques, ouvrant ainsi des perspectives sur l'étude de logiques d'interactions universelles. / This thesis is in the field of the virtual environments for human learning. Digital Epistemic Games (DEG) are a category of serious games dedicated to solving complex, multidisciplinary and non-deterministic problems. The objective of DEGs is to propose authentic learning situations in terms of interactions so that learners can construct and anchor knowledge in their context of use.The first part of the thesis is devoted to exploring spatial, temporal and social dimensions of DEG interactions. Experiments were conducted in ecological environment and showed an educational contribution through an increase in the learner engagement. The design of the prototypes showed that the development of the immersive interactions of a virtual environment for human learning currently remains reserved for specialists in Mixed Reality or Virtual (MVR).So the second part of the thesis was the proposal of a development environment named MIREDGE. A visual programming interface allows developers to model interactions without specific knowledge in MVR through the reuse of blocks. Experiments have evaluated the effectiveness and efficiency of MIREDGE for specialist and non-specialist developers in MVR.As specialist developers in MVR have to continue their algorithm beyond visual programming, MIREDGE allows automatic generation of code providing the corresponding script being totally re-editable in their game engine. The MIREDGE approach ensures wide compatibility with development environments and peripherals. This opens perspectives on the study of the logics of universal interactions.

This essay examines the impact of game releases on the Swedish stock market. As previous research has examined product launches and news releases, this thesis intends to investigate game releases by game developer companies such as developers of computer, console or mobile games. Previous research has been based on a business perspective and business valuation, the authors of this thesis intend to examine the individual investor's perspective. The theoretical framework consists of information asymmetry, the signaling model, the effective market hypothesis, random walk hypothesis and market reaction to new products. The study has chosen a deductive quantitative research approach with the event study method. The sample consists of 14 game developer companies in computer, console and mobile games during theperiod 2017–2021 that are listed on the Swedish market, which were observed during a period of 180 days before the event day and 40 days after. The results showed that there is a statistically significant relationship before, after and during the event day for game releases.The period during and after the event day can also be generalized where 9/14 respective 10/14 game developer companies showed statistically significant within the accumulated abnormal return. / Denna uppsats undersöker påverkan av spelsläpp på den svenska aktiemarknaden. Då tidigare forskning har undersökt produktlanseringar och nyhetssläpp ämnar denna uppsats att undersöka spelsläpp av spelutvecklarebolag som utvecklar PC-, konsol eller mobilspel. Tidigare forskning har utgått från ett företagsperspektiv och företagsvärdering, författarna för denna uppsats ämnar undersöka den individuella investerarens perspektiv. Det teoretiska ramverket består av informationsasymmetri, signaleringsmodellen, den effektiva marknadshypotesen, random walk hypothesis och marknadsreaktion till nya produkter. Studien har en deduktiv kvantitativa forskningsansats med eventstudie metoden. Urvalet består av 14 spelutvecklarebolag inom dator-, konsol- och mobilspel under tidsperioden 2017–2021 som är börsnoterade på den svenska marknaden. Dessa bolag observerades under en tidsperiod 180 dagar innan eventdagen och 40 dagar efter. Resultatet visade på att det finns ett statistiskt signifikant samband innan, efter och under eventdagen för spelsläpp. Perioden under och efter eventdagen kan även generaliseras där 9/14 respektive 10/14 spelutvecklarbolag visade på statistisk signifikant inom den ackumulerade abnormala avkastning.