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"Pro-Amateur"-Driven Technological Innovation: Participation and Challenges in Indie Game Development

Authors:

Nathan McNeese,

Jeffrey Bardzell,

Shaowen BardzellAuthors Info & Claims

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, Volume 4, Issue GROUP

Article No.: 04, Pages 1 - 22

https://doi.org/10.1145/3375184

Published: 04 January 2020 Publication History

Abstract

The phenomenon of end-user driven technological practices such as DIY making, hacking, crafting, and open design/manufacturing is shaping debates in HCI and CSCW about participatory innovation dynamics. However, prior research also reveals two limitations, namely, unequal participation in decision-making and the neglect of middle-tier "pro-amateur" end users. In this paper, we use independent [indie] game development as a case to explore the above-mentioned two key issues. Specifically, we highlight the importance of small teams, "crafting," and "democracy" in supporting and facilitating middle-tier end-users' engagement with technology. Our focus on indie game developers, an understudied group of middle-tier end users in HCI and CSCW, offers new empirical evidence of the dynamic process through which pro-amateurs can participate in technological innovation. Understanding their practices and the socio-technological challenges that they face, therefore, informs the design of more participatory technologies that both allow hobbyists' and experts' innovation and support the technological practices performed by users who are at the middle-tier. This not only promotes the democratization of technology and bottom-up innovation but also adds nuance to existing literature on end-user driven technological practices.

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Cited By

Denisova ABromley SMirza-Babaei PMekler E(2024)Towards Democratisation of Games User Research: Exploring Playtesting Challenges of Indie Video Game DevelopersProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36771088:CHI PLAY(1-25)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677108
Panchanadikar RFreeman G(2024)"I'm a Solo Developer but AI is My New Ill-Informed Co-Worker": Envisioning and Designing Generative AI to Support Indie Game DevelopmentProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770828:CHI PLAY(1-26)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677082
Robinson RVornhagen JFreeman GKeogh BMandryk RSinclair B(2024)The Impact of Mass Game Industry Layoffs on the CHI PLAY CommunityCompanion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3665463.3678861(475-477)Online publication date: 14-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3665463.3678861
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Index Terms

"Pro-Amateur"-Driven Technological Innovation: Participation and Challenges in Indie Game Development
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Collaborative and social computing
    1. Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing

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cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Volume 4, Issue GROUP

GROUP

January 2020

405 pages

EISSN:2573-0142

DOI:10.1145/3378060

Editors:
Cliff Lampe
University of Michigan
,
Jeff Nichols
Google
,
Karrie Karahalios
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
,
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
Vienna University of Technology
,
Uichin Lee
KAIST
,
Andres Monroy-Hernandez
Microsoft Research
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Wolfgang Stuerzlinger
Simon Fraser University, Canada

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Published: 04 January 2020

Published in PACMHCI Volume 4, Issue GROUP

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Cited By

Denisova ABromley SMirza-Babaei PMekler E(2024)Towards Democratisation of Games User Research: Exploring Playtesting Challenges of Indie Video Game DevelopersProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36771088:CHI PLAY(1-25)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677108
Panchanadikar RFreeman G(2024)"I'm a Solo Developer but AI is My New Ill-Informed Co-Worker": Envisioning and Designing Generative AI to Support Indie Game DevelopmentProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770828:CHI PLAY(1-26)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677082
Robinson RVornhagen JFreeman GKeogh BMandryk RSinclair B(2024)The Impact of Mass Game Industry Layoffs on the CHI PLAY CommunityCompanion Proceedings of the 2024 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play10.1145/3665463.3678861(475-477)Online publication date: 14-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3665463.3678861
Kou YZhou YZhang ZGui X(2024)The Ecology of Harmful Design: Risk and Safety of Game Making on a Metaverse PlatformProceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3643834.3660678(1842-1856)Online publication date: 1-Jul-2024
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Panchanadikar RFreeman GLi LSchulenberg KHu Y(2024)"A New Golden Era" or "Slap Comps": How Non-Profit Driven Indie Game Developers Perceive the Emerging Role of Generative AI in Game DevelopmentExtended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613905.3650845(1-7)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Cai JLin YZhang HCarroll J(2024)Third-Party Developers and Tool Development For Community Management on Live Streaming Platform TwitchProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642787(1-18)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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McCauley BBerndt AHelmefalk MHedlund D(2024)Innovation in the esports servicescape: a media business research agendaJournal of Media Business Studies10.1080/16522354.2024.2378392(1-31)Online publication date: 26-Jul-2024
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Shrestha AZuo FQian GRhee J(2024)A Survey and Insights on Modern Game Development Processes for Software Engineering EducationSoftware and Data Engineering10.1007/978-3-031-75201-8_6(65-84)Online publication date: 19-Oct-2024
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Kou YGui X(2023)Harmful Design in the Metaverse and How to Mitigate it: A Case Study of User-Generated Virtual Worlds on RobloxProceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference10.1145/3563657.3595960(175-188)Online publication date: 10-Jul-2023
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Freeman GLi LMcneese NSchulenberg K(2023)Understanding and Mitigating Challenges for Non-Profit Driven Indie Game Development to Innovate Game ProductionProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580976(1-16)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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