Zainab Darbas, Monash UniversityIn 2004, a largely anonymous team of Australian video game developers released a prototype video game titled Escape from Woomera. In this 3D adventure, the player takes on the role of Mustafa, an Iranian refugee fleeing violent repression who is being held in a virtual re-creation of the (now-shut) Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. Mustafa is facing deportation back to Iran – which will mean almost certain death. He and the player must escape.  A screenshot from the unfinished point-and-click adventure game Escape from Woomera. Wikimedia, CC BYEscape from Woomera was one of the first Australian video games ever to receive government funding to support its development. In 2003, the creators received a A$25,000 grant from the national arts body, the Australia Council for the Arts (now Creative Australia). The game itself, and the fact it was awarded public funding, were highly controversial. They sparked conversations about what kind of art the government should fund, and why. Should the goal be to nurture new artistic talent? Or to preserve Australian-made content? Or build profitable industries?  A photo of the entrance of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The photo was taken in April 2003, the same month the centre was closed. Wikimedia, CC BYMore than two decades on, Australia has a robust ecosystem of video game development supported by grant programs across the country. My research looked at the scope and structure of these programs and examined how they affect game developers. My findings reveal that the structures of funding programs emphasise generating profit and growing the video game industry. This is at odds with the approach taken by many game developers, who view themselves as artists, and their games as a cultural form. This fundamental mismatch is a source of tension for game developers who rely on public funding to support their work. Competing priorities of public fundingI read through more than 50 annual reports, strategic documents and other materials from Australian arts funding bodies to analyse funding policies for Australian video games. The documents emphasised the economic potential of the video game industry, frequently citing growth rates, expenditure figures and returns on investment as justification for continuing to fund game development. However, they also promoted Australian video games as complex, experimental and culturally valuable. This shows how funding agencies juggle competing priorities. While they value games with artistic merit that contribute to the cultural landscape, agencies must also demonstrate that their public funding programs generate financial returns. These agencies’ economic priorities heavily influence how public funding programs are structured – which can make them seem highly formal and business-like. Company or community?This formality creates difficulties for game developers, whose work practices are often artistic, informal and adaptive. I interviewed 11 game developers to understand their experiences with public funding. They generally held positive sentiment towards the funding available to them, describing it as a “lifeline”, “fantastic” and “awesome”. Several developers spoke highly of the range of funding programs available for projects of various scope. At the same time, they had criticisms. They found the application processes for public funding overly formal, forcing them to adapt their artistic practices to a rigid, business-like structure. As one interviewee explained:
Tensions were particularly acute around providing diversity information. Most funding applications ask applicants to submit information about diversity, equity and inclusion in a highly formalised format. The developers I spoke to felt “icky”, “gross”, “weird” and “uncomfortable” while completing these forms, describing them as “tokenising”, “dehumanising” and “impersonal”. As one interviewee said:
More than just productsThe interviewees recommended several changes funding agencies could make to improve their application processes. They could, for instance:
These changes would signal to game developers and the wider public that our public institutions value video games as more than just money-making products. Australian-made games such as Untitled Goose Game and Cult of the Lamb – which have achieved international critical success in recent years – wouldn’t exist without public funding. Yet many video game developers struggle to find options for secure public funding. And when it isn’t available, they are forced to take a chance on over-saturated crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter. It’s important that public funding programs work to support game developers on their own terms, so they can keep creating excellent games that enrich our cultural landscape. Zainab Darbas, PhD Candidate, School of Media, Film and Journalism, Monash University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Game on – can video games make your brain level up? (2026-07-20T13:38:00+05:30)
Amy Reichelt, UNSWVideo games have got a bad press in the past mostly due to the accusation that they make people who play them more violent. The violent content that many computer games contain and engrossing nature for players can lead to increased aggressive thoughts. But other studies have said that the root of any video game induced violence is actually due to frustration, as many of these games are challenging and require complex motor skills. Aside from the frustration of getting beaten by the end of level boss again, the challenge of these games is part of the appeal. The sense of accomplishment having completed a game or getting that bit further through a level activates the brain’s reward system, causing release of dopamine, which keeps people coming back for more. But recent studies have shown that video games might actually be good for your brain, leading to increases in grey matter in regions involved in coordination, decision making and memory. Brain trainingAs with any challenging task - practice makes perfect. Take playing the piano for example. Brain scanning with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown that concert pianists have less activationin regions responsible for motor control. This indicates that their brain has become more efficient when it comes to playing that piano than non-musicians. So, over time the brain can functionally adapt to task demands, an example of neuroplasticity. Video games often involve fine motor co-ordination, sustained attention and problem solving, often under pressure, all of which give the brain a work out. Frequently playing video games has been shown to make our brains more efficient at the tasks involved in the game. In a recent study, researchers observed that the greater the amount of time people spent playing video games was associated with a greater brain volume in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and frontal eye fields. These brain regions are important in rapidly deciding what to do in a new situation, and in visual attention and rapid eye movements to targets. Level up your brain with Super MarioPlaying video games has been shown to improve visual attention and memory, and also enhance spatial and motor skills. Last year, a study showed brain changes in adults who didn’t normally play computer games. Participants played Mario 64 on the Nintendo DS for 30 minutes per day for two months and afterwards had increased brain volume in both the hippocampus and portions of the right prefrontal cortex. The hippocampus is important in spatial navigation and memory, and the right prefrontal cortex is important in decision making and attention. In addition, brain volume increases were greater in the subjects who reported really enjoying playing Mario 64 and found the experience rewarding. This indicates that activation of the reward system, which leads to dopamine release, could facilitate the neuroplasticity process. Virtual world to real worldWhether enhancement of brain function from playing video games extends to the real world is currently being tested. Enhanced visual attention has been associated with playing action video games, which leads to the proposal that gamers could show improved response times and vigilance when it comes to everyday activities like driving a car. If video games are able to improve brain function, then they could be a useful tool in the treatment of memory disorders and to help boost cognitive skills. In particular, video games may help prevent memory deterioration associated with ageing. Researchers at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), created a video game called Neuroracer to help older people boost mental skills. Healthy volunteers aged 60-85 played the game, which involves controlling the speed and direction of a virtual car along a hilly, twisting road. Simultaneously, coloured shapes on road signs appear and the player must push a button only when a particular kind of sign appears. Playing the game significantly improved short-term memory and multitasking skills in the participants. The jury is still out whether “brain training” computer games can make you smarter, as improvements are linked to practice effects. But video games are easily accessible and could prove a useful tool in keeping our minds active. There is great interest in the development of specialised video games that could boost mental abilities. Video games that can increase attention could benefit children with attention deficit disorder, and [games promoting social interaction could help children with autism. Amy Reichelt, Research Fellow, UNSW This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
AAA ratings: when do videogames become too realistic? (2026-06-18T12:35:00+05:30)
Stefan Greuter, RMIT UniversityRepetition is a rare phenomenon in the real world but a sense of déjà vu is common in the game world. Games made by large studios with massive budgets, often called AAA games, have become ever more detailed, complex and expensive in an effort to reduce every perceptible audio-visual difference between real and virtual environments. All of this in order to give players the ultimate immersive gaming experience. But at what point does the increase in detail and complexity demand too much of not only the game’s development resources but also the player’s desire to keep playing? Game development budgets have increased hugely since the 1980s (see graph below). The latest instalment of the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series by Rockstar games had more than double the budget of its predecessor and cost an estimated US$265 million to make – the most expensive videogame in history. Game assets such as terrain, characters, buildings, vehicles, sound and music, all have to be manually created which is time-consuming and costly. Game developers routinely reuse assets in the game world to save on time and money, as described below. From a technical perspective, also, the detail and complexity is largely limited by the hardware that dictates the number of objects and the audio-visual detail that can be displayed at acceptable frame rates. In stealth video game Hitman: Absolution (2012) large crowds were made up of only six to nine base character models. While the developers would have liked to use more character models, the severe memory restrictions of the game platform did not permit that. People are good at perceiving detail. Japanese robotics specialist Professor Masahiro Mori observed, in what he described as the “Uncanny Valley”, that people react positively to a robot’s appearance as they come to look more human-like … then, with increasing human likeness, as people focused their attention on what didn’t look quite right, the former positive reaction turned into revulsion. Mori speculated that the acceptance of robots increases again with increasing human likeness. This observation poses a particular challenge for human or humanoid characters in a game, but the problem also applies to all other physical aspects and objects of the game world. The doing and undoing of repetitionAs games thrive towards realism, players more readily compare the game world against the real world and discrepancies become more apparent. Situations such as the exact repetition of a dialogue, the re-emergence of a previously expired character or the identical copy of an object in the game world, are situations we don’t commonly observe in the real world. An increase in realism might paradoxically lead to a decrease in believability and significantly limit the longevity of the game. Repetitive audio can be managed by lowering the sound or turning it off altogether. But repetition in the game world can only be addressed by adding more content. In GTA V the developers “hand-crafted” every aspect of the game world and as a consequence the player encounters less repetition. This “hand-crafted” approach requires a serious development budget, not commonly available for most game projects. As game worlds, game characters and game interactions become more “realistic” companies have to develop more content and implement more sophisticated interactions to create a convincing world. There is still a long way to go until the development of more realistic game experiences is less limited by the computer hardware and more limited by budgets, team sizes and production times. As long as gamers demand higher degrees of “realism”, developers will continue to look for tools that allow artists to craft a game world that reduces the inherent repetition we see in games today. So, where to from here?Let’s consider the modernist music of American composers Steve Reich and Philip Glass, German electronic band Kraftwerk, American rock band The Velvet Underground. Repetition or “looping” is an important aspect of all their compositions. Repeated sounds work magic in our brains and this practice led to techno music, primarily designed for dancing. This approach may assist in making repetition in games less of “a grind” – which refers to the time spent doing repetitive tasks to progress through the game. 3D animation application software – such as Houdini Engine, Substance Designer, SpeedTree and CityEngine – is slowly emerging that exposes elements that can be manipulated by the basic game software or generate unique content. Software developers will need to change their current way of developing games if true realism is their goal. The blueprints for base objects, animations, sounds and music will still need to be created by artists to a large extent, but software of the type described above will have to become more prevalent, and more sophisticated. With AAA gaming, there’s plenty to do when it comes to keeping it real.
Stefan Greuter, Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication, RMIT University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Video games seen becoming a new frontier in digital rights (2026-06-11T11:58:00+05:30)
 Gaming computers await players of Boderlands 3 by 2K at E3, the annual video games expo experience the latest in gaming software and hardware in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 12, 2019. (Reuters Photo) Avi Asher-Schapiro Thomson Reuters Foundation Critical digital rights battles over privacy, free speech and anonymity are increasingly being fought in video games, a growing market that is becoming a "new political arena," experts and insiders said on Thursday. With the industry set to more than double annual revenues to $300 billion by 2025, questions about how video game operators, designers and governments handle sensitive issues take on added urgency, said participants at RightsCon, a virtual digital rights conference. In recent months, a Hong Kong activist staged a protest against Beijing's rule inside a popular social simulator game called Animal Crossing, and a member of the U.S. Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, campaigned in the game as well. The game Minecraft, meanwhile, has been used to circumvent censorship, with groups using it to create digital libraries and smuggle banned texts into repressive countries. "Video games have become this new political arena," said Micaela Mantegna, founder of GeekyLegal, an Argentinian group that focuses on tech policy. Also, game designers have been tackling sensitive topics by creating games that involve issues such as refugees or mental illness. "Video games are a powerful way to start talking about topics that are hard to engage in real life," said Stephanie Zucarelli, a board member of Women in Games Argentina, a non-profit group. User rights can be at risk, however, of being violated, said Kurt Opsah, an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. Law enforcement can ask game companies their users' personal data, operating companies can censor game users and governments can pressure game operators and makers to remove content, he said. He cited an example of the U.S. military deleting critical comments that had been posted on recruitment channels it hosted on Twitch, a popular streaming platform. "They didn't want people to have an anti-military view on their recruiting channel," he said. Governments can apply pressure on video game companies, he said, such as the case of Activision Blizzard Entertainment that last year suspended a player from a video game competition for making political comments about Hong Kong in an interview.Blizzard is partly owned by Chinese gaming giant Tencent Holdings. Video games seen becoming a new frontier in digital rights | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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45 crore Indians lost Rs 20,000 crore yearly to money games, new Gaming Bill to guide youth (2026-06-11T11:57:00+05:30)
 (AI Image/IANS) New Delhi, (IANS) Nearly 45 crore Indians are losing close to Rs 20,000 crore every year to real-money online games, according to government estimates. The huge losses and the tragedies linked to them have pushed the government to act. The Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill, 2025, has now become law after being passed by both houses of Parliament and receiving the President’s assent. The new framework bans harmful real-money games while promoting e-sports and educational gaming platforms. The aim is to protect families from financial ruin and addiction, while still supporting the industry’s potential to create jobs, attract investment and put India on the global e-sports map. The scale of the crisis has been alarming. Reports from different states reveal heartbreaking stories: young people trapped in debt, families destroyed, and even suicides linked to gaming losses. In Karnataka alone, 18 suicides in the past three years were connected to online money games. In Mysuru, a family of three died by suicide after losing Rs 80 lakh. Similar cases have been reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mumbai and Hyderabad, showing how widespread the problem has become. At the same time, the growth of e-sports presents a very different picture. The industry already provides 1.5 lakh direct jobs, a number expected to double by 2030. For every direct role, two to three more are created in logistics, content and analytics. Importantly, nearly 40 per cent of gamers come from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, showing how gaming is spreading opportunities beyond metros. Indian-developed games like FAU-G have also earned millions of dollars overseas, while the country is positioning itself for international e-sports tournaments. The government says the bill was drafted after extensive consultations with ministries, enforcement agencies, banks, parents, and the gaming industry. Officials argue that the law strikes a balance by drawing a clear line between gambling-style money games and genuine skill-based e-sports. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself signalled the importance of this sector earlier this year when he met India’s top gamers. In a lighter moment, he even used the gamer slang “noob,” but behind the humour lay a serious message.That message has now become policy, and with the new law, India has drawn its own battle lines in the gaming world -- separating predators from genuine players. 45 crore Indians lost Rs 20,000 crore yearly to money games, new Gaming Bill to guide youth | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
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Computer Games Improve Neuroplasticity After Traumatic Brain Injury (2026-06-10T13:26:00+05:30)
 Credit: Axeville/ Unsplash. Patients with traumatic brain injuries who complete computerized cognitive games show improved neuroplasticity. Original story from New York University Patients with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) who complete computerized cognitive games show improved neuroplasticity and cognitive performance, according to new research published in Journal of Neurotrauma. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and reorganize nerve fibers that are responsible for learning and processing. The nerve fibers facilitate communication among neurons for functions including speech, memory, and problem solving. In a healthy brain, there are myriad bundles of strong nerve fibers for these functions, but in an injured brain, these fibers can be damaged and the connections can be reduced (similar to telephone wires after a heavy storm). The researchers' findings offer new insight into the brain's resilience and ability to repair itself. “This study demonstrates changes in the brain’s white matter and shows that computerized cognitive remediation in adults with chronic brain injury can induce neuroplasticity. It builds on our earlier studies showing how these computer games can improve cognition as well as change the connections between brain regions and the structure of the pathways that connect the brain regions,” says senior author Gerald Voelbel, associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at NYU Steinhardt. Researchers randomly assigned 17 adults (ages 24-56) with chronic TBI to either an experimental group that played computer games or the control group. The experimental group used the Brain Fitness Program 2.0, a computer program with cognitive games that include recalling syllable sequences, distinguishing between different sound frequencies, and recalling details from a verbal story. Participants completed 40 one-hour sessions over 14 weeks. Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, which measures the speed and direction of water molecules traveling through the brain, the researchers found that participants who completed the games saw significant changes in neuroplasticity over time compared to the group that did not complete them. These changes were related to improvements on objective measures of participants’ processing speed, attention, and working memory. “This study reveals that the changes in the nerve fibers, such as increased strength and stability, were related to the improved cognitive ability in adults with a chronic brain injury,” says Voelbel. “This provides great evidence that the brain can change over time, even in people with a brain injury, with computer exercises that improve cognitive abilities.” Reference: Voelbel HML, Rath JF, Bushnik T, Flanagan S, Lazar M, Gerald T. Computerized Cognitive Remediation Affects White Matter Microstructure in Relation to Improved Cognitive Function in Adults with Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury. J Neurotrauma. 2026. doi: 10.1177/08977151251414085 This article has been republished from the following materials. Note: material may have been edited for length and content. For further information, please contact the cited source. Our press release publishing policy can be accessed here. Computer Games Improve Neuroplasticity After Traumatic Brain Injury | Technology Networks
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Igloo Creates First Gamers’ Insurance Product Amid Rise of Mobile Sports in Indonesia (2026-06-10T13:25:00+05:30)
 Hailed as the largest gaming market in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is home to 43 per cent of the total pool of professional esports players in the world. With the government in support of the development of the local gaming industry, the gaming hotspot is positioned to attract more investments in the coming years. Just recently, Indonesia was chosen as the next host for the world-renowned M4 World Championships in 2023. Unfortunately, the increased popularity of mobile sports in the country also brings health issues associated with prolonged hours of gaming. Moreover, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently started recognising Video Game Addiction as an illness that needs to be addressed with treatment. These developments prompt insurtechs to take action. Igloo partnered with Indonesia’s leading e-wallet DANA to facilitate the first Gamers’ insurance product in the country. Developed to protect the gaming community, the product currently covers heart attacks and carpal tunnel syndrome (CTR) for IDR 1,000. Users can purchase the protection on the DANA app and select from plans starting from as low as Rp1,000 and up to a maximum benefit of Rp1,000,000 for cardiac arrest or carpal tunnel syndrome diseases. Recognising the value it brings to the community, Insurance Asia Awards recently named Igloo’s Gamers’ protection “Product of the Year”. “Indonesians have found joy in mobile gaming with 79 per cent of the population playing an average of 8.5 hours a week,” shared Amitabh Singh, regional head, intermediary platform services. “As mobile sports continue to gain more traction in the country, we also see the need to address the serious health concerns it comes with.” In July 2021, well-respected Indonesian Mobile Legends Bang Bang (MLBB) player Tuturu surprised the gaming community when he announced his early retirement due to a severe case of carpal tunnel syndrome, a disease that causes numbness, tingling, and pain in the hand and forearm. As most of these ailments are chronic and harder to detect, professional gamers like Tuturu often continue to play unaware that they already have underlying injuries. In the worst cases, reports also show that extended periods of gaming may lead to fatal heart attacks. “This recognition supports our commitment to making insurance more accessible across all the segments we serve,” shared Raunak Mehta, co-founder and CEO at Igloo. “As we carry our mission, we will continue to work with our partners to identify the current challenges consumers face and co-create innovative insurance solutions to address these.” Igloo Creates First Gamers’ Insurance Product Amid Rise of Mobile Sports in Indonesia
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Here’s what it’ll take to clean up esports’ toxic culture (2026-06-05T13:21:00+05:30)
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Amanda Cote, University of Oregon
In day-to-day life, you probably haven’t had someone yell at you, “Get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” If you’re a woman who plays online video games, though, statements like this, and worse, are all too common. As COVID-19 has driven much of life online and fueled a boom in online gaming, harassment in these and other internet spaces has increased. Forty-one percent of computer and videogame players are female, down from 46% in 2019. Despite its digital nature, online harassment can have real-world consequences for victims, including emotional and physical distress. This has left online gaming companies and players scrambling for better community management techniques to prevent harassment. As a researcher who studies gaming, I’ve found that the right cultural norms can result in healthy online communities, even in the highly competitive world of esports. The stakes are high. Competitive video gaming, or esports, now exceeds US$1 billion in yearly revenue. Professional, collegiate and high school leagues are expanding, especially as COVID-19 has decreased opportunities for traditional sports. History of harassmentRecent stories from The New York Times, Wired, Insider and others have highlighted how pervasive sexism, racism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination are in online spaces. However, these issues are hardly new. Similar problems arose in 2014’s GamerGate Twitter-based campaign of harassment of female gamers, designers and journalists. Sexism was also common before GamerGate. For example, professional gamer Miranda Pakozdi quit her team following sexual harassment from her coach in 2012; the coach, Aris Bakhtanians, famously stated that “sexual harassment is part of [the fighting game] culture” and that it could not be removed. Others have suggested that the anonymity of online game spaces, combined with gamers’ competitive natures, increases the likelihood of toxic behavior. Survey data from the American Defamation League suggests that at least 37% of female gamers have faced gender-based harassment. However, positive online communities exist, and a study by lawyer and former Microsoft user experience designer Rebecca Chui found that anonymous online communities are not inherently toxic. Rather, a culture of harassment requires community norms that allow for it. This suggests that online bad behavior can be addressed effectively. The question is how. In my interview-based research with female gamers, I’ve found that players have many strategies for avoiding or managing online harassment. For instance, some play only with friends or avoid using voice chat to hide their gender. Other gamers get really good at their favorite games, to shut down harassment through skill. Research by other media scholars, such as Kishonna Gray and Stephanie Ortiz, has found similar results across race and sexuality. These strategies have significant downsides, however. For example, ignoring toxicity or brushing it off allows it to persist. Pushing back against harassers often results in further harassment. They can also put the burden of challenging harassment on the victim, rather than on the perpetrator or community. This can drive victims out of online spaces. As my interviewees gained responsibilities in their jobs or families, for instance, they no longer had the time or energy to manage harassment and stopped gaming. My research suggests that game companies need to intervene in their communities to keep players from having to go it alone. How companies can interveneGame companies are becoming increasingly invested in community management strategies. Large publisher Electronic Arts held a community management summit in 2019, and companies like Microsoft and Intel are developing new tools for managing online spaces. A group of game development companies even recently formed the Fair Play Alliance, a coalition working to address harassment and discrimination in gaming. It’s important that interventions be rooted in the experiences of players, however. Right now, many companies intervene though practices like banning or blocking harassers. For instance, the live-streaming platform Twitch recently banned several prominent streamers following allegations that they had committed sexual harassment. This is a start, but harassers who are blocked or banned often create new accounts and return to their previous behaviors. Blocking also manages harassment after it occurs, rather than stopping it at the source. Thus blocking should be combined with other potential approaches. First, companies should expand the tools they provide players to manage their online identities. Many participants avoided voice chat to limit gender harassment. This at times made it difficult to compete. Games like Fortnite, League of Legends and Apex Legends, however, have instituted “ping” systems, where players can communicate essential game information rapidly, without requiring voice. Similar tools could be built into many other online games. Another option my interviewees suggested is to make it easy for players to group with friends, so they have someone on their side to guard against harassment. Grouping mechanisms work particularly well when matched to the needs of their specific game. For instance, in games like Overwatch and League of Legends, players need to take on different roles to balance their team. Abuse can occur when randomly assigned teammates all want to play the same character. Overwatch recently introduced a new grouping system that allows players to choose their characters, then be matched with players who have chosen different roles. This appears to reduce abusive in-game chat. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.] Although Riot Games unfortunately closed the Tribunal shortly after its release, including community members in any solution is a good idea. Companies should also develop clear community guidelines, encourage positive behavior through tools like in-game accolades, and respond to ongoing issues rapidly and decisively. If esports continue to expand without game companies addressing the toxic environments in their games, abusive and exclusionary behaviors are likely to become entrenched. To avoid this, players, coaches, teams, leagues, game companies and live-streaming services should invest in better community management efforts. Amanda Cote, Assistant Professor of Media Studies/Game Studies, University of Oregon This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
Gaming trends show cities need to rethink how they tap into creative economy (2026-06-02T13:09:00+05:30)
 City policymakers are realising creative workers don’t have to be permanently clustered together if they can collaborate as needed. Steve Purkiss/flickr, CC BY-SA
Sebastien Darchen, The University of QueenslandVarious cities in Australia have developed creative economy policies with the aim of diversifying their economy. These policies are about attracting and retaining entrepreneurs and firms from the creative industries sector, such as the music and fashion industries. Creative economy policies were often based on the cluster concept developed by Michael Porter in the 1990s. This was the case for the creative city strategy in Brisbane and also for the more recent music industry policy in Melbourne. Brisbane has been very active in this area. The objective was to be less dependent on natural resources in the future. Planning initiatives such the Kelvin Grove Village are examples of economic development strategies based on the cluster concept that translated into planned projects. But positive steps are being taken to provide affordable spaces for creative workers. Recent research on the video game industry in Australia has shown that new technologies have greatly influenced the production of games. The industry functions as a “networked community” and not strictly as spatially bounded clusters. The use of new platforms such as the internet enables small companies to produce games from remote areas. Industry structures are changingThe composition of the industry has changed significantly since 2006-07, with the closure of several development studios that focused on console games, such as Krome Studios. A variety of platforms – Unity 3d, mobile phones etc – is now available to game developers. With the shift from console games to mobile phone games, the industry has changed dramatically. The nature of the demand has changed too: consumers of video games are now looking for a quick and fast experience. Disparity Games, operating from Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, is an example of these new successful companies located outside the main cluster. The people behind Disparity Games are two video game developers working from home in an idyllic environment. The map below shows the location of video game firms in Queensland, with some of those companies operating from the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast.
New technologies enable new ways of workingThese studios have demonstrated that self-publishing is a viable business model in Australia. Independent developers can now bypass traditional international publishers. New technologies have thus had the effect of reducing the size of video game companies and increasing their number. This is verified in Queensland, which has become specialised in developing mobile phone games. New technologies such as the National Broadband Network (NBN) have changed the way video game developers produce games and where they produce them. With the NBN, a small video game company can literally produce a game from anywhere.  Co-working spaces allow creative workers to get together only when they need to. janelleorsi/flickr, CC BY If they already have the professional connections, developers can work on the same game with different experts located in different cities. Face-to-face interactions are important, but this does not mean anymore that video game developers need to be located in the city at all times. In that sense, creative economy policies should think about flexible ways to accommodate creative workers in the city. The opening of co-working spaces in South Bank or the River City labs are good examples in Brisbane. This research shows it is time to go beyond the cluster type of economic development policies to attract and retain creative workers and firms in cities like Brisbane. Instead of planning creative neighbourhoods or districts, which are often not affordable for start-up companies, policies should aim for flexible solutions such as co-working spaces. Those are more adapted to an era in which new technologies are to a certain extent changing the geography of creative industries based on technological innovation such as the video game industry. Sebastien Darchen, Lecturer in Planning, The University of Queensland This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
‘More empowered’: how online gaming benefits people with disability (2026-05-13T11:24:00+05:30)
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Christopher Hastas, Western Sydney University; Irena Veljanova, Western Sydney University; Julia Kantek, Western Sydney University, and Mick Houlbrook, Western Sydney University
These are the words of Link*, an online gamer with disability – one of a group of 15 gamers with disability we interviewed as part of our new study, published in the Journal of Disability and Social Justice. Our study aimed to better understand what online gaming offers people with a disability. And Link’s experience highlights one of its key findings: online gaming acts as a powerful space of empowerment, largely due to participants having control over how they identify within online spaces. A diversity of gaming experiencesOnline gaming does have its problems. These include extremist gaming cultures, exploitative monetisation practices (including gambling-like features), and concerns about addiction. But the prominence of these narratives can overshadow the diversity of gaming experiences, including the potential of online gaming to cultivate spaces for personal growth and development. It can also allow people – especially those from marginalised groups – to creatively express their identity in a way they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. Taking a closer lookWe wanted to take a closer look at this in our study by focusing on the empowering impact of online gaming for people with disability – and exploring whether such empowerment extends beyond the online space into other parts of everyday life. To do this we interviewed 15 people (14 male, 1 female) online. The study focused on young adults aged between 18 and 35 who live with a disability. The positive impacts of online gaming come from the opportunity online gaming provides to connect to a diversity of people online through shared interests. One of our interviewees, Cloud*, emphasises this point:
Our research found that the positive influence of online gaming on people’s lives wasn’t just confined to the online space. As Link told us:
So, people with disability can take that confidence from online gaming into their daily lives, which is impactful. The anonymity offered in online spaces allowed participants to construct and express an identity with great control – where a space was created that highlighted other unique parts of their identity, rather than just their disability. As Mario* said:
This was echoed by Cloud:
These comments speak to the limitations people with disability experience in society while also demonstrating how powerful online gaming can be. They reiterate the importance of having agency around how you identify made possible through the anonymity that online gaming provides. As Cloud puts it:
A sense of expressing identity freely and confidently without feeling isolated and judged. Ultimately, that is empowering. Playing without limitationNotwithstanding the narratives of harm, it’s important that people with disability have full inclusion in the online gaming world in terms of access and adaptability, which includes accessible interfaces and devices. However, it is important to note that accessible options can be quite costly, especially adaptive controllers. Gaming is a permanent fixture in our lives. It can have profound benefits for people with disability by helping them construct their full identity. We should ensure people with disability can play without limitation and showcase their empowered selves. *Names have been changed for privacy reasons. Christopher Hastas, PhD Researcher, Western Sydney University; Irena Veljanova, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Western Sydney University; Julia Kantek, Lecturer in the School of Social Sciences, Western Sydney University, and Mick Houlbrook, Lecturer, Western Sydney University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. |
