Task 1: Read through the essay and use the mark scheme to give it a grade.
Task 2: Re-read and summarise the key points that it is trying to make.
Task 3: Prepare to wite you own timed version of the essay (Friday 15th March)
To what extent does Media Ownership affect video game audiences?
Media Ownership refers to the control and influence that individuals or groups can have over the content produced in media outlets. Audience can be affected by factors such as the creation and censorship, the accessibility of the product, marketing techniques and the representation of characters within the game. A pivotal example of this is the 2011 Sandbox game ‘Minecraft’. To understand the effect of Media Ownership fully, Curran and Seaton’s theory should be applied – the idea that the owners of media companies control or influence the values and messaging that the media product presents and whether this is biased.
Media ownership can most significantly affect creation, distribution and censorship of video games, which directly impacts the audiences consuming them. The industry is now increasingly dominated by high-budget productions from mainstream producers that attempt to minimise the risk entailed by developing franchises and playing safe with content, as theorised by Hesmondhalgh. Although Minecraft was originally developed by Mojang – an independent company – it was later acquired by the corporation Microsoft in September 2014 for $2.5 million. This supports Curran and Seaton’s media industries theory, which states that ownership is passing between fewer and fewer hands to oligopolies. However, Curran and Seaton also believed that this compromised creativity for the pursuit of profit and revenue. This isn’t necessarily the case with Minecraft. Minecraft prides itself on being a platform for ‘limitless creativity’, allowing players to play, build and interact freely within their servers. Minecraft’s player base play a large role in the way the game is shaped, acting as ‘prosumers’. The official Minecraft sites have dedicated forums for players to offer feedback for updates, bug fixes, and additions to the existing game which official moderators review and report on. Media owners allowing players to partake in the creation of their games has had surprisingly positive impacts, encouraging producer/consumer interaction. Additionally, the distribution of video games has recently become faster, easier and cheaper globally due to media ownership due to the increase of online retailers, such as Steam and mobile App Stores. The reduction of a ‘middle man’ - such as HMV or Game in the UK – has allowed retailers to reduce prices, and audiences to be able to access their games immediately and remotely. Video games therefore become more popular amongst audiences.
Media ownership can also affect video game audiences through their games level of physical, social or economic accessibility. Physical inaccessibility may refer to a product or service which does not match someone's visual, aural or motor abilities and needs, and can be a very common barrier to audiences accessing certain video games. Producers have the ability to implement adaptations to make their games compatible with the demands of a wider audience, which the 2011 sandbox video game ‘Minecraft’ has done. For instance, the game has an ‘accessibility menu’ which allows players to edit various aspects of their user interface and player experience, such as text editing (size, colour, font), audio output, ‘Text to Speech’ narration and controller compatibility. They have also responded to community feedback to differentiate certain block textures to make them recognisable for visually impaired and colourblind people, which led to the 2022 Ore Update. This is an example of how media ownership can make video games more inclusive for their audiences. To contrast, there are also socio-economic accessibility barriers to video games which many producers, such as Microsoft and Mojang for ‘Minecraft’, have the ability to overcome. For example, many video games are unaffordable in certain countries due to foreign currency depreciation. A common resolution to this problem has been the implementation of ‘regional pricing’: adjustment of a product’s price to a specific location and its demand. However, many games like ‘Minecraft’ are yet to introduce such methods, with the PC version of Minecraft remaining at around £24.99. This is likely due to desire to maximise profit, but reduces their potential audience reach significantly, and could lead to current customers negatively perceiving the brand.
Another way that audience can be affected is by the owner’s application of marketing strategies and monetisation. Both are used by many video games using techniques such as subscription models, microtransactions, donations or virtual currency. The main method used is the microtransactions or ‘freemiums’ which sets the game up with a fixed price but this is only a ‘base’ version and in order to unlock more features the client must pay. An example of this could be ‘The Sims’ franchise, especially The Sims 4 which has a total of 73 DLC packs – consisting of ‘expansion packs’, ‘stuff packs’, ‘game packs’ and ‘kits’ ranging from £4.99 to £34.99. The affect that this could have on the audience is that they see the extra products as ‘greed’ since, using the pervious example, the packs become almost essential to the ‘base’ of the game since it is a life simulator. Minecraft originally did not employ many marketing techniques and instead relied on word of mouth to gain popularity. As the game began gaining popularity Mojang recognized that this was due to the creative freedom it allows players. By providing a platform that empowered users to build and share their creations, Minecraft fostered a community-driven ecosystem. Another technique that Minecraft used that traditional video games did not is the use of ‘Marketplace’ - this allowed users to join a ‘Partner Program’ where they can sell their bonus content and receive profit from (around 30-50%) with Minecraft taking a platform fee (adding to their revenue). This effects the audience as it attracts other programmers that want to broadcast their talent. The other method, outside of their game, that allows for Minecraft to generate revenue is by selling merchandise globally with items such as stationary, clothing, toys and books integrating ‘game reality’ and real life overall creating a stronger connection between the product and consumer. This effects the audience as it creates a sense of ‘identity’ for them conveying how Minecraft have utilised its committed fan-base to generate a consistent profit (in 2021 alone Minecraft made an estimated $380 million).
When Minecraft was first introduced there was only one free playable character which was Steve. The clearly masculine character, since he has facial hair, suggests that the target audience for the game was men and, based on the playable characters, women were not included. We could apply Curran and Seaton to this since it could be reflecting Perssons personal beliefs. In 2012 Persson wrote that “Blocky things are just more masculine” suggesting that his bias is then represented in Minecraft as for almost all the NPC characters, like villagers, are male except for the villainous witch. This can then be further argued with his original representation of female characters being the villainous witch and his personal beliefs about women. In 2017, he wrote that feminism is a "social disease" and called video game developer and feminism supporter Zoë Quinn a "cunt", although he was generally critical of the Gamergate movement. He has described intersectional feminism as a "framework for bigotry" and the use of the word mansplaining as being sexist. Although a spokesperson for Microsoft stated that his views "do not reflect those of Microsoft or Mojang". This can be used to argue against Curran and Seaton as more recently, Minecraft have realised the oversight and have introduced a more feminine character for free called Alex. Owen Hill understood that “jolly old Steve doesn’t really represent the diversity of our player base.” The idea that you had to pay to be a female character was not uncommon in video games as playing as a girl required, on average, an additional purchase of $7.53, much more than the games themselves cost. This and the sexualisation of female characters effect the audience as it could discourage women from playing the game and therefore narrows the target audience. This can be shown by the 2005 study where, Karen E. Dill and K. P. Thill distinguished three major stereotypical depictions of women in gaming: (1) sexualized, (2) scantily clad, and (3) a vision of beauty. The study revealed that over 80% of women in video games represented one of these depictions. More than one quarter of female characters embodied all of the three stereotypical categories at once. Dill and Thill also note that another prevalent theme in the depiction of women was a combination of aggression and sex, referred to as "eroticized aggression". Other representations of LGBTQ+ is also less. In a study conducted by the LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD, only 21 out of 50 major video games released in 2020 included any LGBTQ+ characters. Furthermore, many games that do include LGBTQ+ representation often do so through optional side content rather than integrating it into the main story. This many also discourage LGBTQ+ people from identifying with the game due to their lack of representation.
In conclusion, video game ownership significantly influences audiences through various facets of the production and distribution process, from marketing to accessibility to monetisation. Media producers have the ability to create products based on the gratification needs of an audience, or use their own content to shape a specific target audience. The effectiveness of this ultimately depends on the economic capabilities and aims of the producer, which causes differences in the industry.
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