The Player’s Interpretative Agency and the Developer’s Disruptive Powers: How Blizzard Enforces Authorial Intention in Overwatch

Abstract

Due to constant internet connection many games nowadays require developers of games such as Overwatch to alter the structure of their video games directly and frequently. This chapter argues that, because of such modern technologies, Blizzard is able to change the meaning of the game content whenever it wants so that players are constantly forced to follow the changing authorial intention if they wish to continue playing the game. An illustrative example of game content to which authorial intention is applied are the Overwatch’s heroes, where the players’ interpretations of the characters as game pieces and fictional beings are systematically outplayed by the developer. This chapter thus demands to critically re-evaluate our perception of the author’s influence over the interpretation of a cultural product.

The light, the dark, and everything else: making sense of young people's digital gaming

“…Some respondents modified ("modded") existing games, designed, and sometimes developed their own games as well. One respondent expressed his views on how gaming companies' control over their product was limiting players' sense of agency (see also Blom, 2022). I've even spun out a couple of shitty games that are inside jokes with friends.…”