As the video game industry grows in popularity to surpass the revenue generated by any other form of entertainment, the odds that gaming businesses will invoke immoral business practices to take more value from customers than they return increases.
This will cause games to transition from an era of artistic expression to commercial exploitation; a wasteland of vapid game “experiences” that resemble more of an experiment in behavioural economics than a leisurely hobby.
I will refer to this divide between expression and exploitation as we go into the personal resources we stand to lose if gamers don’t recognize and face the issue. These resources are your time, money, data and attention.
Time may be the most important resource that can be wasted, since you can’t produce more of it and it is consumed whether you intentionally make use of it or not. It can be argued that your time is not wasted if you're having fun. But consider the opportunity cost of spending time with certain games versus other games—or non-gaming activities—you may enjoy more and that treat you better.
Time can be wasted when you perform tasks that are more exploitative than expressive, such as watching ads to earn enough in-game currency to speed up a timer that complete a game’s task (yeesh). Many of these timers are purely a mechanic of business models; detached from the thematic gameplay or lore of what you’re playing. It’s clear that such mechanics are not here just to exploit the scarcity of your time but to also take your…
Money is the chief personal resource most critics will point out that we will stand to lose the most, through use of dark patterns and concepts like pre-orders, season passes and loot boxes. As more businesses adopt predatory business models you'll be running into more chances to have your wallet bled by a thousand cuts.
But money also pays for the work—initial costs, maintenance and risk taking on new IP—done by developers. It’s a question of whether your money goes into helping make a game that's more expressive or more exploitive. It goes without saying that gamers should prefer the latter for the long-term wellness of players and to foster a more symbiotic relationship with game businesses.
The next two resources are concepts I don't hear much about in gaming from the gamer’s perspective but is definitely on the radar of companies that are adopting more of Silicon Valley’s playbook. You should be wary of games that could take these away from you.
Data are pieces of information. Here we’re concerned with data specifically about you: name, age, where you live, who you’ve contacted recently, etc. Some examples specific to gaming are locations you’ve been killed in a level, which micro-transactions you’ve purchased, which notifications you’ve ignored, etc.
When businesses piece together this data they create information that can be used to shape how you interact with their games. Data about what notifications you’ve ignored becomes information about what notifications the business should focus on sending you to increase engagement.
The problem with being a spendthrift with your data is that there is limited upside but unlimited downside for you. This is the reverse for businesses; more data from their players means less downside and more upside for the business.
The business can use your information to improve your experience playing a certain game or all games across the business’ catalogue (the limited upside). But they can also use your data to enhance their exploitive business models. Your data can also be shared or stolen by third parties, used in harmful ways not related to gaming and probably in ways we can’t fathom today (the unlimited downside).
Attention is the momentarily lapses in being present with what you've intended to do. Think of the times you’ve glanced at notifications on your phone while you’re working or seeing in-game popups showing micro-transactions you can purchase while you’re trying to get into a multiplayer queue.
All games will occupy your attention at times as part of their thematic gameplay mechanics; from your screen having a red halo when you’re very hurt in DOOM to an NPC shouting at you in The Witcher III, these are examples of natural attention-seeking events in a game.
But exploitive games will also have events that redirect your attention—often taking you out of the experience or breaking the fourth wall to do so—towards taking an action not related to the thematic gameplay of what you’re playing. Examples are being shown an ad for a product outside of the game’s lore, being prompted to accept notifications or tutorials that show you where to purchase in-game currency that requires real money to receive.
Much like there can be limited upside but unlimited downside with letting businesses handle your data, you have more to lose than gain if you give too much of your attention. Businesses can use attention redirection mentioned earlier for purposes that further their bottom line—the loss of your other personal resources, specifically money—without giving you much in return.
Ask yourself if the games you play today balance expressiveness with the need to earn a profit so the developer can continue their craft. Or are you playing games that clearly use harmful business practices to take as much of your personal resources as possible?
Please consider giving some of your resources to the businesses that favour expression over exploitation. As the gaming population increases we will have a tougher time to move larger businesses towards practices that treat us with more dignity.
As gamers we should look towards how developers are finally looking at unionization as inspiration. Collective bargaining is the game we need to play to make businesses notice. We need to start soon or it will become much harder to change the industry’s course later.
Let's start today:
- Do your own research about dark patterns, behavioural economics, habit loops and similar concepts so you are aware of the tools being used against you and can act accordingly
- Boycott businesses and platforms that show clear indicators of adopting business practices that put exploitation over expression
- Leave public comments on the social media profiles of these businesses and their products, clearly and respectively explaining why you will not be supporting them as long as they continue using exploitive business practices
- Feel free to explain to your fellow gamers why you're boycotting these businesses, but do so without judgement or acting defensively if they don’t show interest in following your path