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Crowdsourcing in Video Games: The Motivational Factors of the Crowd

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The Computer Games Journal

Abstract

Crowdsourcing is the act of issuing a voluntary task to a large network of people. There have been several successful implementations of crowdsourcing in the video games industry, one of which is presented in this paper: Steam Workshop—a digital platform allowing players to publish self-made content for games. Building on an all-encompassing definition of crowdsourcing, the paper defines Steam Workshop as a crowdsourcing platform and answers the question: What are the motivational factors for participants to contribute to crowdsourcing projects? Through a literature review on the subject of motivation in crowdsourcing, a total of 25 motivational factors are identified and divided into three categories: intrinsic motivators, extrinsic motivators and social motivators. These factors may be used by developers in order to evaluate and improve the motivational factors behind participation in crowdsourcing projects, and thereby also the quality and quantity of contributions. In future research, crowdsourcing projects should be categorized according to a determined set of characteristics, thereby allowing research into which motivational factors are more prominent for each form of crowdsourcing. Secondly, further research could help explain how motivation varies over time, and how developers may not only capture contributors, but also retain them through time-appropriate incentives.

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Interviews with Community Modelers

  • 32 years old male Steam Workshop contributor from the United Kingdom, conducted 12 May 2013.

  • 21 years old male Steam Workshop contributor from Sweden, conducted 13 May 2013.

  • 30 years old male Steam Workshop contributor from the United States, conducted 19 May 2013.

  • 24 years old male Steam Workshop contributor from the United Kingdom, conducted 19 May 2013.

  • 24 years old male Steam Workshop contributor from the United Kingdom, conducted 20 May 2013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ubisoft Entertainment SA, Montreuil, France

    Ashkan Namousi

  2. Jönköping, Sweden

    David Svenningsson Kohl

Authors
  1. Ashkan Namousi
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  2. David Svenningsson Kohl
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Correspondence to Ashkan Namousi.

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Namousi, A., Svenningsson Kohl, D. Crowdsourcing in Video Games: The Motivational Factors of the Crowd. Comput Game J 5, 149–163 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-016-0021-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40869-016-0021-4

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