@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}

}

@article{Turtiainen2020,

title = {“Not Only for a Celebration of Competitive Overwatch but Also for National Pride”: Sportificating the Overwatch World Cup 2016},

author = {Riikka Turtiainen and Usva Friman and Maria Ruotsalainen},

url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202106145861},

doi = {doi:10.1177/1555412018795791},

isbn = {1555-4120},

year  = {2020},

date = {2020-06-01},

journal = {Games and Culture},

volume = {15},

issue = {4},

pages = {351-371},

abstract = {While the most popular forms of organized competitive digital gaming, also known as eSports, have begun finding their place within and in relation to both mainstream entertainment culture and the field of traditional sports, their history is one of struggling to be accepted as “true sports.” Partly because of this history, great effort has been put into the sportification of eSports by presenting competitions in familiar ways adapted from traditional sports. In this article, we examine the process of sportification of eSports in the context of tournament broadcasts. We analyze the Overwatch World Cup 2016 tournament, comparing its final broadcast to the 2014 FIFA World Cup’s final broadcast, looking for similarities and differences in the areas of broadcast structure, commentary and expertise, game presentation, game highlights and acknowledgments, teams and players, and audience.},

keywords = {Broadcasting, Electronic sports, FIFA, Overwatch, Sportification},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}