Work As Play

Although people can create work by playing the game, work is also created through the play of the game. Organisations employ people to play and test the game to eradicate bugs and improve it. World of Warcraft constantly undertakes maintenance checks and creates patches to improve gaming experience. Once again social networking has little effect on this, however, as discuss previously, gamers have the potential to become product testers and creators through the contacts that they make within the game, with employers creaming off the talented players to work for their company.

Blizzard however gains profits from play – it employs people to play the game to discover ways to improve it while at the same time, reaping the profits from players who stay in the game. Many people stay in the game due to the social connections that they have formed within it. World of Warcraft is a subscription-based game, with players paying approximately $15 USD for a month’s worth of game play. However, the question arises as to why gamers would continue to pay this amount to play the game when other games are available on the market for less. Perhaps the greatest reasons are the social connections and avatar development that are created in the game. Players have spent many hours developing their character and building their reputation within the world – its value represents both ‘emotional and time commitments’ (Humphries, 2005:41). To switch games or even create a new character again would mean to start from scratch, once again building and maintaining the character and relationships. The cost of switching to a new product is simply too high for players and consequently, this creates loyalty towards the game and enables Blizzard to reap the rewards (Humphries, 2005:41). Furthermore, the friends that gamers have made within the game would be lost should they stop playing it and therefore, many would stay within the game just to maintain these social connections. Thus, the social networking that occurs within the game causes game loyalty and consequently, Blizzard profits from the play of gamers who are ‘forced’ to stay within the game.

Conclusion

Social networking has many implications for immaterial labour. The networks formed within the World of Warcraft through the use of guilds, parties and the community at large, enable profitable transactions to occur. Firstly, gamers can use their networks as contacts to find potential real-world employment, similar to how they would use their everyday social contacts. As this networking is not limited geographically, players have potential access to employers and workers from all around the world. Secondly, players stay within the game itself due to the social connections that are developed, enabling Blizzard to make profits in this immaterial gameplay. Although other forms of immaterial labour exist within the game, such as avatar selling and gold farming, networking has little impact on this except for discovering potential buyers for these products, as relationships and reputations cannot be bought and sold as commodities.