Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the structure of the games industry at a macro level and the influence that globalisation, the Western financial crisis, changing policy regimes and technology have had on trends. It focuses on the economic growth of the games industry compared to other cultural industries and the structure of the industry including the emergence of mobile and online segments. The book explores key trends over the past decade including the emergence of games as a service, diversification by existing game companies through acquisition and the emergence of new competitors. It shows how the digital games industry produces its games and what type of work is involved and also focuses on the expansion of production logics in the games industry. The book also explores some of the available research on working conditions and work in the digital games industry.