What’s your game? The digital game industry in Spain from a gameworker’s perspective

Abstract

This study seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the organisational structures of the video games creative industry through the experiences and perspectives of gameworkers. Using a qualitative approach, based on in-depth interviews, we study the evolution and current situation of the professionals in the video game industry in Spain. Concepts such as immaterial labour and post-bureaucratic organisations help us to understand the main characteristics of a professional sector in which passion and creativity are frequently found alongside unstable working conditions, excessive working hours and high levels of competitiveness. From this perspective, the data analysis highlights three main topics: 1) training and entry into the labour market, 2) processes of co-creation and relationships in work teams and 3) professional and social recognition. Among other results, we discuss the lack of specific training, the assertion of their co-creative status and the need to document working processes that are currently invisible.