User Communities and Social Software in the Video Game Industry

Firms manufacturing video games and player communities enjoying the games are closely related, not only in a producer-user way, but also in co-development, testing and diffusion activities. This paper explores these tight relationships. The interaction between firms and user communities in this industry has drastically increased in intensity and quality with the introduction and development of social software. However, Social software has simultaneously raised new managerial challenges. Based on a theoretical discussion and empirical material we propose a typology of users in the video game industry. These communities have different reactions to incentives coming from firms producing games and therefore have to be approached and harnessed with specific community management practices and social software devices.