Overview
My research interests encompass the global media industry, China studies, and game studies. Currently, I am focused on two primary research areas. The first area examines the formation of the global video game industry. For instance, I investigate how video games evolved from being perceived as a “digital drug” to becoming a globally dominant “cultural industry” in China. However, my research is not limited to the Chinese context; I am also deeply interested in the contexts of Asia and the Global South. The second research area explores how video games integrate with AI and VR technologies, along with their impacts and potential. I am deeply interested in the dynamic interactions between games, technology, and society.
You can find my research in Google Scholar or Academia.
Research Project
Video Game Industry
My thesis, titled “The Stigmatization of Video Games in the 1990s China”, historized and analyzed the digital drug discourse of video games, and its implication on the game industry in the 1990s China. It draws upon the archival research conducted from 1989 to 2001. Using the historical and cultural methodology, this article finds that the shift from “spiritual opium” to “electronic heroin” represents a depoliticization and de-ideologization of the digital drug discourse. By examining how these two digital drug discourses were constructed and replaced over time, this study restores the history of the Chinese game industry in the 1990s and sheds light on the impact that the change in digital drug discourse has had on it. This research was award as Top Students Paper, History Division at AEJMC 2023. A part of this article has been published in the Media International Australia
Digital Labor and Video Games
My research on labor and exploitation in MMOGs employed textual and political economy analysis to uncover that massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) monetize player interactions, particularly targeting spending players. The study demonstrates how games like League of Legends exploit player labor in a three-stage process involving the labor process, compensation, and consumption, facilitated by complex currency systems that devalue rewards. This research was recognized at the NCA conference in December 2022 as one of the Top Overall Papers, Game Studies Division. This article has been published in Critical Studies in Media Communication.
Parasocial Relationship
My research on Travel Frog, a mobile game explored the meaning constructed by players through their parasocial relationship with the ‘frog’ and the social context of this construction. It conducted in-depth interviews with 20 players from first-tier cities in China, and the findings are based primarily on a thematic analysis of the data. This study finds that the reasons young Chinese players view the frog in the game as their child are deeply rooted in their conceptions of their ideal lifestyle and ideal parent-child relationship. This study aims to go beyond the limited perspective of individual gratification to understand the social and cultural reasons behind the formation of the player-game character relationship and game culture in a Chinese context. The paper has been published in Game Studies Journal.
Nansong Zhou 周楠淞 