GaS: Player Services - Jaakko Stenros

Player Services

Jaakko Stenros

”games as services”

games are:

an activitya producta servicea platform

sequels and serializationepisodic gamesexpansion packs

other add-ons

games as fiction

content has not changed

game content or form is not a service, it is a product

however, the way content or form is delivered, presented or

facilitated can be a service

“a helpful act”

“the act of serving”

“useful labor that does not produce a tangible commodity”

“intangible and insubstantial”

“cannot be handled, heard, tasted or smelled”

“cannot be stored or transported”

“inseparable and perishable”

player service model

player point-of-view

nature as product or service an innate feature

includes games and playful activities, digital and non-digital

transaction of money unneccessary

pragmatic and inspirational, not dogmatic

maintenance of environmentmaintenance of environment

support of initiationsupport of initiation

facilitation of playingfacilitation of playing

assistance of playassistance of play

socialization of playersocialization of player

“Instead of commodifying places and things and exchanging them in the market, we now secure access to one another’s time and expertise and borrow what we need, treating each thing as an activity or event that we purchase for a limited period of time. Capitalism is shedding its material origins and increasingly becoming a temporal affair.” (Rifkin 2005)

implications for

serious gamesparagaming

mods, hacks and remixesplayer created contentservices and access

thank youquestions & comments

jaakko.stenros@uta.fi