Gamevironments Revisited from the Perspective of Game Production Studies

Abstract

The original concept of gamevironments, introduced by Radde-Antweiler, Waltmathe, and Zeiler in 2014, was an actor-centered approach to video game research that integrated the analysis of games as digital artifacts with the broader cultural and social context in which these games were produced and consumed. In this issue, Radde-Antweiler (2024) revisits the concept, calling for a holistic actant-centered approach that takes not only the human, but also the non-human actors into consideration. While the revisited concept of gamevironments is a useful approach to studying video games, it still largely omits the economic dimension of producing and consuming video games in different cultural, economic, and political backgrounds. This article aims to bridge this gap and analyze the 21^st century video game industry through the lens of political economy and game production studies, aiming at integrating these perspectives with the analytical framework of gamevironments. The economy and global financial flows make up an important part of the analysis of video game development, and it is important to consider the economic dimension of video game production and consumption in different contexts. The video game industry is shaped by concerns around profitability, and the oligopolistic power of corporations has a significant impact on the cultural production of video games in terms of which projects get funded and marketed to global audiences. Additionally, the politics of the video game industry and the sociopolitical issues within the game culture discourse are important topics that need to be investigated. In this article, we identify ten key challenges for studying video games and game culture using the revisited gamevironments approach that game production studies can help in addressing.