Uncovering the (Hidden) Co-Creativity: Ethnographic Streaming for a Game Design Praxiology Research Project

A 2021 study by Kultima, Ojanen, and Nylund, affiliated with Aalto University and the Finnish Museum of Games, examines whether ethnographic Twitch streaming can serve as a legitimate method within game design praxiology, the study of how games are actually designed and produced in practice. The research centers on Noita, an indie roguelike that spent roughly a decade in development, entered Early Access in September 2019, and gained official Twitch integration in February 2020. The work also supports the goals of a museum exhibition, situating game development as a living, collaborative process rather than a closed studio activity.

The core investigation drew on approximately 100 hours of Noita gameplay observed between February and June 2021, supplemented by daily viewing of live streams. The authors found that streaming exposed how Noita was designed to support emergent, streamable, and community-driven play. It also surfaced co-creative contributions from modders, streamers, and community managers that developer interviews and public documentation had not captured. These roles, which shape how the game is experienced, discussed, and extended, emerged most clearly through sustained observation of the broadcast ecosystem.

The researchers also documented significant limitations. Streaming proved time-consuming and technically demanding, imposed emotional burdens on the researchers, and introduced a bias toward the gameplay experiences that streamers chose to showcase. Despite these constraints, the authors concluded that streaming provides valuable insight, including insight obtained without extensive personal playtime, and should be recognized as a legitimate praxiological research method. The study's scope is limited to a single title and a short observation window, which the authors frame as an exploratory test of the approach rather than a comprehensive account of Noita's development.