Deutero (reflective/learning capacity)So far, many organizations have been forced to think about aspects of gender in gaming. For example, there has recently been a successful gender discrimination suit by Riot Games (preceded by walkouts among the company’s employees following a push to increase positive culutre change at the company); burgenoning debates have recently sparked about whether or not Title IX should be considered in esports on college campuses; and organizations like AnyKey have sprung up aiming to increase inclusivity and diversity in gaming. However, questions here persist, such as how are the people within video game companies (higher up and not) aware of the issues of gender representation? How are they handling negative backlash from the media? How are government organizations (Department of Education, White House Office of Science & Technology, etc) understanding issues of gender imbalance within the video game space? What are current court cases that support (or don’t) gender disparities? How are federal civil rights laws (like title ix) used as a reference for these issues? Meta (dominant discourses)Dominant discourses would concern the popular belief of the solo, young, ‘geek’, and masculine ‘gamer’. There’s also the discourse of gaming as as both something to fear (like discourses around the unfounded links between violence and video games). Some of those risks here are overlooking certain communities (like communities outside of the spaces which are broadcast and accessible, like the communities of the marginalized, etc), making sweeping assumptions from what data we see or have access to, and not taking into account larger forces, like the historical basis of games communities. There are also major aspects of the discourses within popular social media surrounding gaming communities (such as YouTube and Twitch) which breed various communities to reinforce their beliefs to each other (such as people supporting gamergame and spreading vitriol regarding any woman in the space of games, etc). It would be interesting to see how these communities continue to grow, particularly the links between male gaming communities and right wing YouTube communities. Macro (law, political economy)The regulation of video games based on age is one of the main legislation around the video game communities in the United States, most of this centered around themes of violence and nudity in video games. There are also burgeoning legal issues that are springing up with the professionalization of esports which leads to legal implications for inclusion and diversity. It would be interesting to know - how do people in these spaces view legal proceedings as part of their cause or outside of their cause? Particularly in a historically male-dominated spaces. Meso (organizations)It is impossible to ignore the behemoth that the video gaming industry has become - predicted to be worth over $90 billion by 2020. It is also important to note that of late, most of the large video game companies right now (such as Activision Blizzard (with majority shareholders based in China), Riot Games (mostly owned by Chinese Tencent) and Epic Games) are heavily influenced by Chinese companies, leading to recent protests. Other important laws to consider would be laws like title ix, particularly in the space of esports as it becomes an even more financially lucrative space (with top winners making millions of dollars this year). I’m interested to know - how are people, particularly the young people who are just becoming old enough to view Mature video games, envisioning esports and esports players? How do they envision this as a possible career path? Bio (bodies)Games are designed with particular bodies in mind - typically those that are young, able-bodied and young men. There have also been links between physically illnesses, with things like carpal tunnel that result from the prolonged usage of playing video games (a necessary byproduct What are the implications for the people who are not imagined as a body that ‘games’. And, looking more at the design side, what are the actual practices of video game designers when envisioning who will be using their products?Micro (practices)The complex interplay of play and leisure around games and gaming community, particularly when discussing aspects of gaming like streamers, YouTubers and people who are in professional esports) where what was previously meant to be viewed as pay has become a sphere of monetization. This raises interesting questions such as how do people in this space interpret the blurred lines between play and profession? What does it mean to these people when their pastimes become their source of income? Since there are strong monetary gains, how are marginalized groups (such as women, people of color, people with disabilities, etc) excluded from some spaces and finding spaces of inclusion? Nano (language, subjectivity)How has meme culture and other forms of popular culture proliferated the ways that subjects are produced? how do they push back on that? how is gender performed and enacted in these spaces, particularly when there is no ‘physical’ body? Edxo (education and expertise)How do educators view games as part of their practice? parents? how do they find these to be important or problematic?Data and Techno(data infrastructures)An often overlooked part of esports and games is access to these games - not only does it require the initial investment of a console, gaming pc, etc. but also a time commitment. what are the impacts of these? how are IT companies benefiting from these? are they major players in the support of esports?Eco-Atmo (ecology, climate)What are the ecological impacts of the increase in gaming cultures? are people aware? how are the games companies and tech companies providing the access viewing this?
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