Developer Credit: Para-Industrial Hierarchies of In-Game Credit Attribution in the Video Game Industry

Abstract

Developer credit has been a contested issue in the video game industry since the 1970–80s, when Atari prevented its programmers from publicly claiming authorship for games they had developed. The negotiations over what constitutes a noteworthy contribution to video game development are ongoing and play out in the unregulated space of in-game credits. Here, some creators get top billing akin to film and television credits, while others struggle to be recognized for their work. By analyzing in-game credits of 100 contemporary games published between 2016 and 2020 and representing four major sectors of video game production (AAA, AA, indie, and freemium games as service), I identify recurrent patterns, such as opening credits, order, role descriptions (or lack thereof), and systematic credit omission, that both reinforce and subvert the notion of core development roles and above-the-line/below-the-line divisions.

No Uglies: Rejection and Utopia in "Animal Crossing: New Horizons"

“…Paratext can act as an extension of the player's gaming experience, reconfiguring and assigning additional meaning to choices, behaviors, and mechanics beyond the original vision of the developer. Employed in fan communities as an essential aspect of expressing a work's meaning or value, paratext in gaming is most frequently articulated through the recording of unique play histories and related discussions, which publicize narratives of player experience (Mukherjee, 2015;Geraghty, 2015;Švelch, 2017). In the case of gaming, this content can also be understood as an affective force capable of shaping cultural discourse.…”

Individuals responsible for video games: an exploration of cataloging practice, user need and authorship theory

“…Many games come with some sort of crediting of the creative team that developed the game, but it is rare that they are identified in the purchased product (box, inlay card or digital download information). There are limited regulatory or industry-standard guidelines relating JD 78,6 to crediting in video games ( Svelch, 2021), and as such, there is inconsistency in the means of delivering and formatting that information. Perhaps most often, the game may have credits embedded within it, which are accessible either through the game's play menu or, in some cases, only after reaching the end of the game.…”

“…60-62), which increases the number of individuals who could be identified as creative contributors and potentially makes the daylighting of that credit more unlikely (since it might not place one or the other company in the best light). Outsourcing of aspects of game development to subcontractor companies is common for some game studios ( Svelch, 2021;Martin and Deuze, 2009), and the details of credit for those elements may not be made public. If the game is based on a pre-existing intellectual property concern (e.g.…”

“…, 2017b). While video game user studies seldom explicitly explore user needs for recorded creator information relating to video games, very recent work has begun to point out the lack of authorship credits given to video game creators and to assess this as an information problem (Švelch, 2021). The author/creator element in metadata schema is an important nexus for user interest.…”

“…Recent research in the area of information studies for video games has resulted in the development of an information schema for games, but elements capturing authorship or creative input are not yet present in the schema's most recent release (Lee et al, 2017b). While video game user studies seldom explicitly explore user needs for recorded creator information relating to video games, very recent work has begun to point out the lack of authorship credits given to video game creators and to assess this as an information problem ( Svelch, 2021). The author/creator element in metadata schema is an important nexus for user interest.…”