One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games

Holly Liu: By changing the economics of expertise in gaming, virtual game worlds today can impact the real world, for the first time. With trends such as play-to-earn games, the rise of livestreaming, and the growing contingent of esports pros, players — not just game publishers! — can now create value for the entire community and get paid. Experti... See more

By any measure, conventional or otherwise, the volume of microtransactions shows that the significance gamers attach to their virtual items and achievements can be a real source of economic value.

-This is similar to the modern model of video games with microtransactions

Games are art, not software - Successful game studios try to protect the creatives from the nasty “finance guys.” Amazon’s culture of A/B testing, user surveys, and iterative critiques works well for product, but it’s “horrible for creative endeavors”

Gaming is a hits-driven business, where the biggest productions cost hundreds of millions of dollars and need to find a way to recoup their sizable investments. As a result, the companies behind these massive games look for as many ways as possible to mitigate risk, either by copying popular trends (like the battle royale craze of the late 2010s) o... See more