Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Industry and audience - video game industry revision

Explain the impact of recent technological changes on the videogame industry. Refer to the AC franchise to support your answer [8]





Knee-jerk reaction 

Recent technological changes have greatly impacted the videogame industry in a number of ways. In order to explore this I will look at the Assassin’s Creed Franchise, an action/RPG/open world hybrid produced by Ubisoft.

Plan 

AAA

Conglomerate

Producers

Lots of similar games

High productions

High draw distance

Multi Platform release

Ubisoft own other companies like Redstorm 

Huge production team

Motion capture

Curran and Seaton: it’s all about power and profit

Vertical integration 

Digitally convergence

Digitally convergent advertising

Realistic gameplay

Cultural industries: maximising audiences 

Multiple languages 

Mobile phone accessibility

Open alpha and beta playtesting appeals to fans

Interactive features: history mode

Regulation 

Violent content easily accessible 

Complex narrative

Larger storage space allows for bigger games 



Another way in which recent technological changes have impacted the videogame industry is through…


4a) Explain how the videogames industry targets audiences. Refer to the Assassin’s Creed franchise to support your points. [10]


The videogame industry targets a range of audiences, but in particular, maximises profit by targeting fans. In order to explore I shall look at the Assassin’s Creed franchise,  an action/RPG/open world hybrid produced by Ubisoft.

While the Assassin’s Creed franchise targets audiences in a particular way, this is not the only way in which certain audiences, in particular fans are targeted by videogames. For example, the recent action adventure game Stellar Blade which targets a teenage male audience through hypersexualised representations of female characters. Through doing this, Stellar Blade has blatantly targeted a small yet extremely vocal online fanbase who wish to see very sexualised representations of women in videogames. However, The AC franchise takes a completely different approach to target it’s fanbase, by focusing on core gameplay elements, and a focus on a violent and productive gameplay. In doing so, Ubisoft is shying away from controversial content, in order to minimise risk and maximise profit. Additionally, societal responses to sexualised and sexist imagery have completely changed in the last 15, and for a studio to be seen as being sexist or exclusionary could also put off diverse and different audiences from engaging with videogames. 

  • Heavy production of sequels allows targeting a pre-sold audience 
  • Use of interactive features, such as actively roleplaying a character, allows for an escapist mode of address
  • Mirage targets a diverse audience through it’s middle eastern setting 
  • Lots of different language settings allow international audiences to be targeted
  • Jenkin’s theory of fandom allows us to understand that videogames can ensure financial success by providing audiences with opportunities to socially interact with other fans 
  • Cosplay, dressing up as a fictional character is encouraged through the character design in the AC franchise, through the simple, straightforward and stylish iconography. Any fan can put on a hood and hold a sword menacingly. Posting these images on sites such as reddit provides social interaction
  • The escapist fantasy of exploring an ancient city appeals to a variety of audiences 
  • The young male audience is targeted through the use of violent situations. The use of blood and gore stereotypically appeals to teenage boys, however the violence can described as moderate fantasy violence that is highly unlikely to traumatise an audience 
  • In certain games like Valhalla, a choice of gender is provided, allowing the franchise to target female audiences
  • The use of intertextuality not only refers to previously released games but also highly successful films (such as Aladdin)
  • David Gauntlett - audiences can use elements of AC to feel more empowered through constructing their own identity. The AC games therefore give the audience a sense of belonging