Everywhere but Nowhere: Development Experiences of the International Game Developers in Finland during the Covid-19 Pandemic and Remote Work

Park S, Kultima A, Lehtonen MJ, Krath J (2022)

Publication Type: Conference contribution

Publication year: 2022

Book Volume: 6

Article Number: 233

Conference Proceedings Title: Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has influenced people's views on work, and a significant portion of the global game industry converted to remote work during the pandemic. To explore the status of game development in this pivotal moment, we have conducted semi-structured interviews with 27 immigrant/expatriate game developers ("game expats") in Finland analyzing their migration push and pull on societal, industrial, social, and individual factors. The results indicate societal and industrial factors simultaneously influencing game expats' migration intention, but with an increasing influence of game corporation's role on developers' both on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness due to an absence of (local) community activities during the pandemic. The data also reveals that game developers are valuing the physical workspace for face-to-face interactions, despite the industrial norm of digital tools and seamless transition to remote work. Furthermore, an alarming stratification and hierarchization within the game industry were identified, which game developers self-dividing in-house versus outsourced workforce even if they were both required to work remotely. This paper contributes to game studies on game developers' experiences as an attempt to investigate the local context of game development. It is also one of the first snapshots of game work practices in Finland during the Covid-19 era.

Authors with CRIS profile

Jeanine Kirchner-Krath

Involved external institutions

Rikkyo University / 立教大学

Japan (JP) Aalto University Espoo

Finland (FI) Universität Koblenz-Landau

Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Park, S., Kultima, A., Lehtonen, M.J., & Krath, J. (2022). Everywhere but Nowhere: Development Experiences of the International Game Developers in Finland during the Covid-19 Pandemic and Remote Work. In Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction.

MLA:

Park, Solip, et al. "Everywhere but Nowhere: Development Experiences of the International Game Developers in Finland during the Covid-19 Pandemic and Remote Work." Proceedings of the CHI PLAY 2022.

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