"Have fun working with our product!": Critical perspectives on computer game mod competitions

Abstract

This paper suggests that the digital games industry products are not limited to games-related hardware and software or the related spin-off industry products. Further, consumers "labour" with games is transformed into a product that is sold to advertisers and sponsors. In case of gamer-made modifications, this commodification of leisure is taken into extreme. It is obvious that the cultivation of unpaid modder labour necessitates different methods than the traditional forms of labour. It is suggested that mod competitions are used as a strategy of control over the hobbyist developers. Through competitions modders become interpellated as important members of the industry and simultaneously end up surprisingly comfortably harnessed. Finally, the paper suggests that the competitions that offer an attractive means to monitor the mod scene, paradoxically also work against industry's advantages by revealing the laborious nature of computer game development to the hobbyists. © 2005 Authors & Digital Games Research Association DiGRA.