Contested Reception of the Free-To-Play Business Model in the North American Video Game Market

Chew conducts a sociological interpretation of the North American game industry, with attention on free-to-play games. While the North American game industry is widely discussed in various literatures, this chapter not only summarizes the major trends but also, by focusing on the production aspect of games, offers a critical interpretation of the production context and environment. The author finds that top-level management in game corporations as well as many game design professionals are willing to give free-to-play a try. This trend is expected to benefit not only the oligopolistic corporations, but also midsize and indie game companies.