Value Transformation: From Online Community to Business Benefit

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to shed light on the generation and transformation of values through the production and consumption of ‘Let’s Play’, as a new area of practice in the creative economy. Let’s Play emerged from the practice of machinima, ‘animated filmmaking within a real-time virtual 3D environment’, and is referred to as non-narrative machinima taking the form of video game walk-throughs, reviews and other gameplay videos that are live-streamed to fan followers and archived in curated playlists. Whilst this form of user-generated content will become increasingly pivotal to the digital economy and to new emergent forms, the value of this important creative form remains largely undocumented. Drawing on empirical data, this chapter examines the value associated with economic, cultural, social and symbolic capital of Let’s Play as an emergent creative form.