THE EVOLUTION OF DIGITAL GAME INDUSTRY FROM 1980 TO 2017 AND CREATION OF ARTIFICIAL LIFE CYCLES

Öz

This study seeks to understand the evolution of digital game industry and the interaction between different parts of the digital game ecosystem. Within this scope games published since 1980’s by the Activision game publishing company were analyzed. In this framework the main questions that the study attempts to answer are: What kind of a development path has the global gaming industry followed? What is the relation between the digital games and game consoles? How digital games and other sectors in the culture industry interact? What kind of a life cycle models exist in the digital game ecosystem? Which dynamics and strategies are applied during the introduction of new digital games on the market? For founding answer to these questions, the publication dates and digital game series of Activision games, game console generations and cinema - television contents which are related to Activision’s games were analyzed with the quantitative content analysis methodology. According to the results we can conclude that an artificial life cycle of digital games are created by reproducing and publishing game series into the market. This result reveals that games are produced in a complex game ecosystem where; game publishers, diverse sectors of the culture industry, and console producers interact and cooperating between each other to formulate a repetitive artificial live cycle model.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Digital game
• cinema
• television
• creative ındustry
• life cycle
• activision

1980-2017 Yılları Arasında Dijital Oyun Endüstrisinin Gelişimi ve Oluşturulan Yapay Yaşam Döngüleri

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı küresel dijital oyun endüstrisinin gelişim sürecini anlamak ve  dijital oyun ekosisteminin bileşenleri arasındaki etkileşimi  çözümlemektir. Bu kapsamda dünyanın en büyük oyun firmaları arasından yer alan Activision firmasının 1980 yılından itibaren piyasaya sürdüğü dijital oyunlar incelenmiştir. Çalışmanın odaklandığı sorular şunlardır: Küresel oyun endüstrisi nasıl bir gelişim patikası izlemiştir? Dijital oyunlar ve oyun konsolları arasında ne tür bir ilişki bulunmaktadır? Geliştirilen oyunlar ile kültür endüstrisindeki diğer sektörler arasında nasıl bir etkileşim bulunmaktadır? Bu bileşenler nasıl bir yaşam döngüsüne sahiptir? Hangi dinamikler ve stratejiler gözetilerek yeni oyunlar piyasaya sürülmektedir? Bu sorulara yanıt bulmak amacıyla çalışma Activision firmasının geliştirdiği oyunların yayımlanma tarihleri, geliştirilen oyun serileri, oyun konsollarının nesilleri ve dijital oyunların ilişkili olduğu sinema ve televizyon öyküleri niceliksel içerik analiz yöntemiyle çözümlenmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar doğrultusunda dijital oyunların yapay yaşam döngülerinin oluşturulduğu ve bu oyunların düzenli aralıklarla yeniden üretilerek piyasaya sürüldüğü belirlenmiştir. Bunun sonucunda dijital oyunların; oyun yayımcıları, kültür endüstrisindeki farklı sektörler ve konsol üreticilerinin dahil olduğu üç ayaklı karmaşık bir dijital oyun ekosistemi içerisinde geliştirildiği ortaya konmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• dijital oyun
• sinema
• televizyon
• kültür endüstrisi
• yaşam döngüsü
• activision

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