Filed under: Culture, Business
The politics of video games are well covered by other websites, but it's worth spending a little time to think about the business implications of politics on the industry and its customers -- particularly in light of recent events like the UK game study. Just how much day-to-day impact does this maneuvering really have? For all of the angst found in the gamer community over issues like the latest ridiculous violent video game ban, I'd argue that the average gamer is actually pretty well-insulated from the mess.
So who does get affected? Well, the answer lies at least in part in figuring out the touch points that politics has on politicians, developers and publishers, and the people who buy and sell games in the first place. At its most basic, there are some essential conflicts of interest between these groups that get mediated by politics, and we can use them as the lens by which to think about this further.
Let's start off with consumers themselves. What do they really want? Well, game players want to be able to play whatever they want, whenever they want to play. But they're not the only stakeholders here; for younger players, parents play an important role as intermediaries in determining what games get purchased and thus what games are available. Parents, more than anything, want control: the ability to control what their children play and filter out products that they view as offensive or objectionable. Industry figures have similarly simple incentives. They want to satisfy players' demands and supply the games they want -- that's how they make money. It's in their best interests to avoid any restrictions whatsoever on what they can produce or how they sell it. Retailers also have to worry about their brand image and how they're publicly perceived, which is why Wal-Marts don't stock Adults-Only rated games.
Continue reading Counting Rupees: The business of politics
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