Changing the Rules of the Game Economic, Management and Emerging Issues in the Computer Games Industry

Few industries fit the description of high turbulence and high velocity better than the computer games industry. Relatively young, rapidly evolving, and frequently experiencing disruptive innovation, its potential for growth and new business opportunities seems barely exhausted. And indeed, in the current economic climate this industry seems positively recession-proof. Those making and those playing games use digital technology to share an enthusiasm for the industry's products that we rarely find elsewhere. This fascination with computer games and gaming and the economic significance of the industry make it one of the most remarkable socio-cultural phenomena of our world. As the industry emerges, we become more aware of the need to trace it and to understand it in all its meanings, and the challenges it poses. The 10 chapters in this book provide an examination of the computer games industry from 10 different perspectives, discussing the following aspects:
•The spatial logic of the industry
•Business model innovation
•Games development – a risky business
•Co-production and the role of the consumer
•Business sustainability
•The place of creativity
•Emerging people management challenges
•Violent games and work well-being
•A critical perspective on games as phantasmagoric commodities
•Virtual worlds – blurring boundaries between realities and games

Professor Sabine Hotho is Professor in Strategic and Change Management and Head of the Dundee Business School at the University of Abertay Dundee, UK. She has published in the fields of critical management, public sector management and change management. Her current research addresses the organizational and management practices in the digital games industry.

 
Neil McGregor graduated with a BA(Hons) in Economics and an MSc in Accounting and Finance from Stirling University, UK. He has worked at Abertay University for 20 years, before which he was employed at Loughborough University Business School. Neil is currently Division Leader in Accounting, Finance and Economics within the Dundee Business School. In his time at Abertay he has also been Director of the Tayside Economic Research Centre, Scottish Economic Research Centre and the Lothian Labour Market Unit. He has worked on a range of consultancy and research projects including contributions to the Council for Industry and Higher Education research into links between HEIs and the computer games industry in the UK.

Introduction
Hotho, McGregor Emerging Perspectives
Chapter 1
Champion Problematizing a Homogenous Spatial Logic
Chapter 2
White and Searle Commercial Business Models
Chapter 3
Zackariasson and Wilson The Role of the Consumer
Chapter 4
McGregor Business Growth, the Internet and Risk Management
Chapter 5
Hotho 'Some Companies are Fine One Day and Gone the next'
Chapter 6
Zackariasson The Role of Creativity
Chapter 7
Shaw and Homan HR Issues in the Computer Games Industry
Chapter 8
Stacey, Thomas and Nandhakumar How Funny Are Games
Chapter 9
McNeish Critical Perspectives on the Games Industry
Chapter 10
Comas and Tschang Brief History, Tumultuous Present, and Uncertain Future of Virtual Worlds