Professional Online Game Players as New Media Workers
Professional Online Game Players as New Media Workers
This chapter employs a political economy approach, particularly a Marxian analysis, on the issue of commodification in order to examine the working conditions of pro gamers as labor workers and their professional identities. The discussions cover several key issues: who these pro gamers are, how they became pro gamers, and what types of games they play. Exploring these characteristics provides a better understanding of pro gamers in Korea, particularly as a legitimate labor force in the realm of the new media. The chapter determines if the pro gamers’ world is full of existing labor issues, such as whether they experience exploitation as commodities or gendered environments. It maps out the commodification process of pro gamers as part of professional game teams owned by media, telecommunications, and other big corporations. The investigation leads to a discussion of whether professional gaming is a viable future for the youth in the digital economy.
Keywords: online gamers, online gaming, online game players, commodification, working conditions, pro gamers, labor force, youth, digital economy
MIT Press Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.
