2025
Blom, Johanna
The Turmoil of Dating Game Characters: False Promises of Agency in Genshin Impact Book Chapter
In: Ciesielska, Dominika; Lamerichs, Nicolle; Zarzycka, Agata (Ed.): Affect in Fandom: Fan Creators and Productivity, 2025, ISBN: 978-90-485-5470-6.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Agency, Dating simulator, Monetization
@inbook{nokey,
title = {The Turmoil of Dating Game Characters: False Promises of Agency in Genshin Impact},
author = {Johanna Blom},
editor = {Dominika Ciesielska and Nicolle Lamerichs and Agata Zarzycka},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.26282442},
doi = {10.2307/jj.26282442},
isbn = {978-90-485-5470-6},
year = {2025},
date = {2025-03-27},
booktitle = {Affect in Fandom: Fan Creators and Productivity},
abstract = {This chapter concentrates on Genshin Impact’s dating simulator and the romantic affective desire it facilitates within its players. Video games, particularly those with dating simulator elements, can be designed to facilitate parasocial relationships between players and game characters, by endowing players with the agency over characters to steer the development
of the romantic relationship. At the same time, game characters have become an important means of generating revenue for free-to-play games. This chapter, therefore, closely scrutinizes Genshin Impact’s dating simulator, arguing that it only serves to attach players to the game product for monetary reasons by giving the impression that players have agency over the characters, but changes nothing in the game at all.},
keywords = {Agency, Dating simulator, Monetization},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
This chapter concentrates on Genshin Impact’s dating simulator and the romantic affective desire it facilitates within its players. Video games, particularly those with dating simulator elements, can be designed to facilitate parasocial relationships between players and game characters, by endowing players with the agency over characters to steer the development
of the romantic relationship. At the same time, game characters have become an important means of generating revenue for free-to-play games. This chapter, therefore, closely scrutinizes Genshin Impact’s dating simulator, arguing that it only serves to attach players to the game product for monetary reasons by giving the impression that players have agency over the characters, but changes nothing in the game at all.
of the romantic relationship. At the same time, game characters have become an important means of generating revenue for free-to-play games. This chapter, therefore, closely scrutinizes Genshin Impact’s dating simulator, arguing that it only serves to attach players to the game product for monetary reasons by giving the impression that players have agency over the characters, but changes nothing in the game at all.
2020
Švelch, Jan
Mediatization of a Card Game: Magic: The Gathering, Esports, and Streaming Journal Article
In: Media, Culture & Society, vol. 42, iss. 6, pp. 838-856, 2020, ISSN: 0163-4437.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Card game, Electronic sports, Mediatization, Monetization, Professional player, Sportification, Streaming, Video games
@article{Švelch2020,
title = {Mediatization of a Card Game: Magic: The Gathering, Esports, and Streaming},
author = {Jan Švelch},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-201910254099},
doi = {10.1177/0163443719876536},
issn = {0163-4437},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-09-01},
journal = {Media, Culture & Society},
volume = {42},
issue = {6},
pages = {838-856},
abstract = {Magic: The Gathering is a household name among analog games. Its publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has experimented with digital adaptations since the late 1990s, however, it was only in 2018–2019 when the company announced a more radical push for the video game market, including a strategy for streaming and esports. By analyzing streaming content, paratextual elements, and online discussions leading up to the first major digital tournament, I explore the attempted and heavily promoted transition of Magic: The Gathering from a primarily analog card game toward a transmedia esports property. Beside conflicting reactions from players and fans to particular aspects of this transformation, this change brings along deepened mediatization of the game as a way to improve the spectator experience by following the media logics of streaming and esports. Professional players in the newly formed esports league along with other sponsored content creators were recruited to serve as advocates for this transition.},
keywords = {Card game, Electronic sports, Mediatization, Monetization, Professional player, Sportification, Streaming, Video games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Magic: The Gathering is a household name among analog games. Its publisher, Wizards of the Coast, has experimented with digital adaptations since the late 1990s, however, it was only in 2018–2019 when the company announced a more radical push for the video game market, including a strategy for streaming and esports. By analyzing streaming content, paratextual elements, and online discussions leading up to the first major digital tournament, I explore the attempted and heavily promoted transition of Magic: The Gathering from a primarily analog card game toward a transmedia esports property. Beside conflicting reactions from players and fans to particular aspects of this transformation, this change brings along deepened mediatization of the game as a way to improve the spectator experience by following the media logics of streaming and esports. Professional players in the newly formed esports league along with other sponsored content creators were recruited to serve as advocates for this transition.
2019
Harviainen, J. Tuomas; Paavilainen, Janne; Koskinen, Elina
Ayn Rand's Objectivist Ethics Applied to Video Game Business Journal Article
In: Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 167, iss. 4, pp. 761-774, 2019, ISSN: 0167-4544.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Ayn Rand, Business ethics, Free-to-play, Monetization, Video games
@article{Harviainen2019,
title = {Ayn Rand's Objectivist Ethics Applied to Video Game Business},
author = {J. Tuomas Harviainen and Janne Paavilainen and Elina Koskinen},
url = {https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10551-019-04159-y.pdf},
doi = {10.1007/s10551-019-04159-y},
issn = {0167-4544},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-04-16},
journal = {Journal of Business Ethics},
volume = {167},
issue = {4},
pages = {761-774},
abstract = {This article analyzes the business ethics of digital games, using Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. It identifies different types of monetization options as virtuous or nonvirtuous, based on Rand’s views on rational self-interest. It divides the options into ethical Mover and unethical Looter designs, presents those logics in relation to an illustrative case example, Zynga, and then discusses a view on the role of players in relation to game monetization designs. Through our analysis of monetization options in the context of Objectivist ethics, the article contributes to discussions on game revenue ethics. It also expands the still understudied area of applying Rand’s ethics to business, in the context of a new sector, game development, and business. This research enables ethicists to apply a wider-than-before perspective on virtue ethics to online business, and helps game developers act in a virtuous manner, which provides them with a long-term business advantage.},
keywords = {Ayn Rand, Business ethics, Free-to-play, Monetization, Video games},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
This article analyzes the business ethics of digital games, using Ayn Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism. It identifies different types of monetization options as virtuous or nonvirtuous, based on Rand’s views on rational self-interest. It divides the options into ethical Mover and unethical Looter designs, presents those logics in relation to an illustrative case example, Zynga, and then discusses a view on the role of players in relation to game monetization designs. Through our analysis of monetization options in the context of Objectivist ethics, the article contributes to discussions on game revenue ethics. It also expands the still understudied area of applying Rand’s ethics to business, in the context of a new sector, game development, and business. This research enables ethicists to apply a wider-than-before perspective on virtue ethics to online business, and helps game developers act in a virtuous manner, which provides them with a long-term business advantage.