Toward Greater Production Diversity

Abstract

Commercial video game studios erect boundaries through the organization of work that tends to discourage the production of a diverse range of games. This article adds to the scholarship on the production of video games by examining gender and other boundaries in the way work is organized at a U.S. commercial studio. Video games are a result of social conditions in a distinct organizational culture. Changing these conditions to allow for gender and other types of diverse organizational structures can impact the role of video games for the broader culture. The organization of work was analyzed through teamwork and the physical layout of the office space in relation to external customer relations and internal departmental organization. Additionally, the article examines how gender is engaged within these organizational dynamics. These factors contribute to an environment that enables game employees with a certain disposition to affectively invest in boundary maintenance.