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How Funny Are Games? Violent Games Content and Studio Well-Being

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Changing the Rules of the Game

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Abstract

This chapter focuses on the twin responsibilities of game studios for the social groups they create content for and employ. Through two nascent and ongoing studies we investigate the contextual forces of violent game development and gamework well-being. Our analysis of both studies draws on the theory of interpretive schemes (for instance, Bartunek, 1984; Ranson et al., 1980) as an analytical lens (Walsham, 2003), which theorizes about the systems of meaning that people draw on in order to make collective sense of phenomena and conduct. This chapter is organized as follows: first, key motivations, prior literature, a theoretical framework, the research approach and methods used are introduced. We then present two empirical studies regarding violent game development and gamework well-being; each contains a case study, analysis and conceptualization. These sections are followed by a synthesized discussion and conclusion.

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Authors
  1. Patrick Stacey
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  2. David Thomas
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  3. Joe Nandhakumar
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dundee Business School, University of Abertay Dundee, UK

    Sabine Hotho  & Neil McGregor  & 

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© 2013 Patrick Stacey, David Thomas and Joe Nandhakumar

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Stacey, P., Thomas, D., Nandhakumar, J. (2013). How Funny Are Games? Violent Games Content and Studio Well-Being. In: Hotho, S., McGregor, N. (eds) Changing the Rules of the Game. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137318411_9

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