Apps of Empire: Global Capitalism and the App Economy. Issue 3 (May 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nieborg, David B.
• Other Names: Hammar Emil L. guest-editor.; Wildt Lars de guest-editor.; Mukherjee Souvik guest-editor.; Pelletier Caroline guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Games and culture. Volume 16:Issue 3(2021)
• Page Start: 305
• Page End: 316
• Publication Date: 2021-05
• Subjects: game industry -- apps -- app stores -- platformization -- apps of empire -- game production -- platforms -- political economy; Games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Video games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Computer games -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Interactive multimedia -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 303.4834
• DOI: 10.1177/1555412020937826
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1555-4120

Abstract

This article interrogates Dyer-Witheford and De Peuter's Games of Empire . Since its publication in 2009, the game industry evolved significantly, adding billions of players, dollars, and devices. One of the driving forces of this transformation has been the global diffusion of mobile media. This raises the question: Do mobile platforms and the app stores operated by Apple and Google allow for a radical departure from global hypercapitalism? This question will be explored by taking on three themes: shifts in labor, the political economy of platformization, and the capital-intensive mode of app production and circulation. Doing so addresses two gaps in Games of Empire ' s approach: a dearth of empirical economic analysis and the acknowledgment of work in critical platform studies and mainstream economics. It is concluded that rather than providing a staging ground for dissent or collective action, apps of empire signal the foreclosure of an exodus from global hypercapitalism.