2015
Company
Documents about 2015
Coming Out While Going Fast: Queer Conviviality in Speedrunning Live Streams
Johanna Brewer's study examines how openly queer and transgressive speedrunners who live stream their gameplay cultivate what she terms "queer conviviality," a culture of mutual support that extends into material community action.
- Visibility of queer characters in US games remains very low: an analysis of over 4,000 titles released 2010–2015 found only about 1 percent featured queer or trans characters or non-heterosexual interactions, versus 12 percent of queer characters on television by the 2021 season.
- Queer and trans speedrunners on Twitch often come out for the first time on stream, frequently after harassment elsewhere in gaming culture, and events such as Games Done Quick are described as comparatively welcoming.
- Author Johanna Brewer terms the mutual-support culture among queer speedrunners "queer conviviality" and positions its collaborative, queer-temporal practices as a model for inclusive, communal change in game studies and HCI.
Back to the Mines: Mogul Games Group Will Become Galaxy Resources Limited
Mogul Games Group, an Australian-based esports entity, has announced a strategic pivot back to its original business focus of mining and mineral exploration.
- Mogul Games Group (MGG) is pivoting away from the esports industry to return to its original focus on mining and mineral exploration, rebranding as Lithium Galaxy Limited.
- The company has entered a binding agreement to acquire lithium and rare earth exploration projects located in Australia and Canada.
- Mogul Games Group failed to record a profit since its inception in 2015, accumulating a total lifetime loss of $35 million AUD despite multiple capital raises and an IPO on the Australian Securities Exchange.
FTC Fines Microsoft $20 Million for Collecting Children’s Personal Data
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has imposed a $20 million fine on Microsoft for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
- The FTC fined Microsoft $20 million for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by illegally collecting and retaining personal data from children under 13 on the Xbox platform between 2015 and 2020.
- Microsoft failed to obtain required parental consent during account creation and retained data from children even when parents did not complete the registration process.
- Until 2019, Microsoft used pre-checked boxes to automatically opt children into data sharing with advertisers and promotional content distribution.
Playing Political Science: Leveraging Game Design in the Post-Secondary Classroom
Mikael Hellström's paper examines how game design principles can be applied to structure a post-secondary political science course, drawing on Lee Sheldon's "Multiplayer Classroom" model, which treats a course as a persistent computer game with experience points, quests, and player roles derived from Richard Bartle's taxonomy…
- The paper applies Lee Sheldon's 'Multiplayer Classroom' model, treating a course as a persistent game with experience points, quests, and player roles drawn from Richard Bartle's player-type taxonomy.
- The design was implemented in Winter 2015 at the University of Calgary across a 400-level comparative politics seminar (about 75–80 students) and an evening public administration course (about 20 students).
- Students could resubmit quests without limit, and experience points determined final grades, with 2,000 XP serving as the threshold for an A; some students reached it within weeks and pursued research beyond the assigned readings.
Playing Outside the Binary: 6 Things We Learned From 14,000 Transgender & Non-Binary Gamers
The gaming landscape is undergoing a significant demographic shift, with transgender and non-binary individuals now representing 5% of the total gaming population, a fivefold increase since 2015.
- Transgender and non-binary gamers are primarily motivated by Fantasy and Design, showing a clear preference for immersion and self-expression over competitive or mastery-based gameplay.
- The prevalence of trans and non-binary identification is higher among younger gamers, reaching 5.6% in the under-18 cohort compared to 3.7% among those 35 and older.
- Trans and non-binary gamers show significantly lower interest in Power, Strategy, Challenge, and Competition compared to the general gaming population.
Case Study: Counter-Strike's Marketplace
The marketplace within Counter-Strike: Global Offensive serves as a primary case study for understanding mature, player-driven game economies.
- Game-balancing updates act as immediate catalysts for market volatility, as weapon nerfs trigger sharp demand shocks that cause associated skin prices to fluctuate significantly.
- The introduction of new loot boxes creates an income effect that increases player purchasing power, driving up prices for budget-tier skins while simultaneously exerting downward pressure on premium items.
- New content releases trigger substitution effects, where demand for established, older items declines as player attention and capital shift toward newer inventory.
Angry Birds 2 Surpasses $500 Million in Lifetime Revenue
Angry Birds 2 has reached a significant financial milestone, surpassing $500 million in lifetime revenue from in-app purchases since its launch in July 2015.
- Angry Birds 2 has generated over $500 million in lifetime in-app purchase revenue since its July 2015 launch, representing nearly half of Rovio’s $1.1 billion total portfolio earnings.
- The United States is the primary market for Angry Birds 2, contributing 63% of the game's total lifetime revenue.
- While the Apple App Store accounts for 56% of revenue, Google Play drives the majority of user acquisition, representing 63% of the game's 360.5 million total downloads.
Ginx TV Hires Capital A to Explore Sale
Ginx TV, a London-based media company specializing in gaming and esports content, has engaged the venture capital and private equity firm Capital A to explore a potential sale or new investment.
- London-based gaming and esports media company Ginx TV has hired the firm Capital A to explore a potential acquisition or new investment.
- The company is pitching a strategy to investors that would retain current CEO Michiel Bakker and keep the existing staff of 21 full-time employees and 17+ outsourced roles intact.
- Ginx TV generated approximately £2.2 million ($2.5 million USD) in revenue for the 2022 fiscal year.
Toa Dunn Announces Exit From Riot Games
Toa Dunn, the longtime Head of Music at Riot Games, announced his departure from the company in February 2023. After a tenure spanning nearly a decade, Dunn exited to pursue new, undisclosed professional opportunities.
- Toa Dunn, the longtime Head of Riot Games Music, announced his departure from the company in February 2023.
- Dunn spent nearly a decade at Riot Games, joining the company in 2013 as a music development producer.
- During his tenure, Dunn led the development of music, television, and film initiatives, including the creation of production standards across the company's ecosystem.
R10 Announcement
The UK Games Fund has announced the successful completion of its tenth funding round, marking a significant milestone by surpassing 200 total projects supported since the initiative began in 2015.
- The UK Games Fund selected 48 independent studios and solo developers for its Round 10 funding cycle, marking a milestone that brings the total number of funded projects to over 200.
- Round 10 attracted over 110 applications from across the UK, with the majority of successful recipients beginning their funded work in January 2023.
- Applicants in this round could pitch for a full £25,000 grant or a tiered structure consisting of an initial £12,000 grant with the potential for an additional £18,000.
Estudio sobre el Consumo de Videojuegos entre la Población Adulta Española y en Familia
The study investigates how video-games are consumed in Spain, focusing on family interaction, the adoption of parental-control tools, and the impact of streaming personalities on player behaviour.
- Shared family gaming in Spain has surged significantly, with nearly 80% of parents playing with their children in 2022 compared to just over 33% in 2015.
- Parental control adoption remains low, as only 39% of gamers use these tools, with 17.5% using them regularly and 22% occasionally.
- A significant portion of the gaming population is disengaged from safety measures, with over 40% of users never employing parental controls and nearly 20% reporting they are unaware of their existence.
Creative Industries in the UK Report
The United Kingdom’s entertainment market reached a historic peak of £11.1 billion in 2022, representing a 6.9% year-on-year increase and nearly doubling its total value since 2015.
- The UK entertainment market reached a record £11.1 billion in 2022, a 6.9% year-on-year increase that nearly doubles its 2015 valuation.
- Digital services now dominate the landscape with a 91% market share across video, music, and gaming sectors.
- The video games sector is the largest segment at £4.66 billion, with digital software sales—driven by mobile and console DLC—accounting for 90% of that total.