2015
Company
Documents about 2015
Shifting Patterns of Female Representation Across Assassin's Creed
This paper examines the representation of female protagonists across the Assassin's Creed franchise, which by its account comprises 28 installments released since 2007 across multiple platforms and genres.
- The paper argues that the Assassin's Creed franchise, comprising 28 installments since 2007, has offered an exceptionally limited number of female protagonists, with only seven titles featuring playable women either exclusively or as an option.
- Representation shifted rapidly and unevenly after a 2014 controversy over the animation of female avatars, and the authors contend that internal resistance at the company produced incongruities between narrative and ludic elements in post-2017 titles.
- The study uses close-play analysis, netnography, and paratextual material analysis under the DiGAP protocol, drawing on playthroughs, developer interviews, trailers, trade show presentations, and storefront catalogs.
The Inadvertent Construction of Leaders in Digital Games
This in-progress qualitative study examines whether leadership roles in digital games offer a pathway to leadership development for women, non-binary individuals, and people of color, who often do not perceive themselves as natural leaders.
- Leadership in digital games is often inadvertent: many participants did not seek the role but were pushed into it through in-game performance or a predecessor's sudden departure, sometimes while concealing their gender from guild members.
- Most participants had already left their leadership roles by the time of interview, frequently citing burnout, after experiencing stress and being undercut by other members.
- The study is a qualitative project based on semi-structured interviews with 20 leaders (combining 2015–2023 interviews with 2024 follow-ups) across World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and Clash of Clans, analyzed through categorization analysis and grounded theory.
Making Sense of 'Game Feel' through Affective Science
"Making Sense of 'Game Feel' through Affective Science" argues that game feel is best understood not as a fixed property of a game's design or a player's sensory experience, but as an emergent phenomenon arising from the entanglement of the player, the game's audio-visual-haptic materiality, and its mechanical system.
- Game feel is framed as an emergent, material-discursive phenomenon arising from the entanglement of the player, the game's audio-visual-haptic materiality, and its mechanical system, rather than a fixed property of design or sensation.
- The paper distinguishes feelings (pre-cognitive bodily affect) from emotions (socioculturally constructed meanings), using Barrett's theory of constructed emotion and core affect as its framework for designing and studying game feel.
- Game feel depends on the gap between players' predicted and actual outcomes, making it inherently subjective and not fully specifiable in advance; designers must tune this expectation-outcome relationship while accounting for variation across players, genres, and cultures.
The Play Pendulum: A Theory of Innovation Cycles in Interactive Entertainment
The Play Pendulum theory proposes that the interactive entertainment industry operates in decadal cycles, oscillating between periods of content innovation and distribution innovation.
- The gaming industry operates in decadal cycles that oscillate between content innovation and distribution innovation rather than being driven solely by technological advancement.
- As of 2024, the industry is transitioning into a distribution innovation phase, shifting focus toward transmedia adaptations and user-generated content platforms like Roblox and Fortnite’s Unreal Editor.
- Market concentration reached a peak in 2023, with the ten largest gaming companies controlling 65% of the market, up from 58% in 2020.
G2 Esports Names Mathieu Lacrouts Head of Media House
G2 Esports has appointed Mathieu Lacrouts as the new head of its Media House division, a strategic move aimed at broadening the organization’s brand reach beyond traditional gaming and esports.
- G2 Esports has appointed Mathieu Lacrouts as the new Head of its Media House division to lead a strategic expansion beyond traditional gaming and esports.
- Lacrouts’ appointment coincides with the official closure of Hurrah, the gaming and esports marketing agency he founded in 2015.
- The Media House division operates as a work-for-hire entertainment unit, providing advertising services and content creation for blue-chip brands, rightsholders, and game publishers.
Rainbow Six Siege, Marvel Rivals Receive Game Approval in China
China’s National Press and Publication Administration has granted official game approval to Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege and NetEase’s Marvel Rivals.
- China’s National Press and Publication Administration has officially approved Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege and NetEase’s Marvel Rivals for release in the Chinese market.
- Tencent will serve as the distributor for Rainbow Six Siege on both PC and mobile platforms and is expected to lead the game's esports operations in China.
- The approval of Rainbow Six Siege authorizes the game to be streamed on major Chinese platforms including Douyu, Huya, and Bilibili, all of which are backed by Tencent.
Gamevironments: Narrative
This issue of Gamevironments (Issue 20, 2024) collects academic articles, a teaching report, and emerging-scholar reports on video games and their cultural, religious, and educational dimensions.
- The issue (Gamevironments Issue 20, 2024) gathers academic articles, a teaching report, and emerging-scholar reports on video games' cultural, religious, and educational dimensions, including Latin American clone consoles, gamification, classroom role-playing games, and religion in popular franchises.
- The featured IASGAR PhD Day reports come from a 2023 summer graduate workshop on video gaming and cultural values and focus on how religious themes operate within games and fan communities.
- Ed Watson's lead essay reads FromSoftware's Bloodborne (2015) as a site of critical theological reflection, arguing it allegorizes Christian communion and exposes its internal paradoxes.
Who Wins? Royal Match vs. Monopoly Go
This analysis evaluates the competitive landscape between two dominant mobile titles, Royal Match and Monopoly Go, to determine which game holds greater long-term potential.
- Monopoly Go has experienced a significant decline in performance, with monthly downloads dropping 65% from a peak of 13.9 million in August 2023 to 4.8 million in June 2024, and revenue falling 31% from $132 million in March 2024 to $91 million in June 2024.
- Royal Match has overtaken Monopoly Go in worldwide revenue rankings as of June 2024, signaling a potential long-term shift in market leadership between the two titles.
- Royal Match maintains the highest Revenue Per Download (RPD) in the match-3 genre at $7.51, outperforming other top competitors who remain below $6.
Taobao Sponsors LGD Gaming Dota 2 Team
Taobao, the e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group, has entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Chinese esports organization LGD Gaming.
- Taobao, the e-commerce platform owned by Alibaba Group, has signed a sponsorship deal with the LGD Gaming Dota 2 division.
- The partnership is exclusive to the LGD Gaming Dota 2 team and does not extend to other divisions operated by the organization.
- As part of the branding agreement, the Taobao logo will be displayed on the center chest of the team's official jerseys.
Did Vindex’s Sale to EFG Leave Esports Engine Employees Empty-Handed?
The acquisition of Vindex by ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in March 2023 has drawn scrutiny regarding the treatment of employees at Esports Engine, a Vindex subsidiary.
- When Vindex was sold to ESL FACEIT Group (EFG) in March 2023, most Esports Engine employees with equity received no financial benefit from the sale, mirroring a similar outcome for staff during the 2015 sale of Major League Gaming to Activision Blizzard for $46 million.
- The acquisition deal was structured to prioritize debt repayment and retention pools, effectively keeping the final sale price below the threshold required to trigger equity payouts for employees.
- Esports Engine management and staff were largely excluded from the acquisition negotiations, with many learning of the finalized deal only after it had closed.
Cloud9 Finalizing Deal With New York Subliners
North American esports organization Cloud9 is in the process of finalizing a partnership with the Call of Duty League (CDL) team, the New York Subliners.
- Cloud9 is finalizing a partnership with the Call of Duty League (CDL) team New York Subliners to represent the organization at the Esports World Cup in August.
- The partnership focuses on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III competition, with reports suggesting Cloud9 may consider a full acquisition of the team in the future.
- Cloud9’s interest in the roster is driven by financial incentives provided through the Esports World Cup Club Support Program, which rewards clubs for signing teams to compete in the multi-title event.
Tournament Operator Epulze Announces Layoffs
Epulze, a Sweden-based tournament organizer and esports platform, has initiated a round of layoffs as part of a broader organizational restructuring.
- Tournament operator and platform provider Epulze has initiated company-wide layoffs as part of a strategic restructuring effort.
- The layoffs are intended to extend the company's financial runway while it navigates a delayed fundraising process caused by a slow financial market in 2023.
- Epulze is shifting its corporate focus toward achieving profitability in response to the current funding challenges.