Yes, my point though is that up until the last 4-6 years or so, this has been a mostly legitimate phenomenon.
If you want to understand how the Call of Duty series became the culturally predominant image of what “videogames” are in the West by the mid-2010’s, you would be better served by analyzing the history & development trends of the Western Gaming Market, rather than whatever the hell was going on with MapleStory, or Vietnamese mobile gaming, even if the latter two have larger playerbases. Those aren’t who western games companies are selling to, and aren’t who they hire to make directorial decisions. Those people’s experiences are, in the abstract, no less valid or meaningful than those of westerners, but they aren’t relevant to the immediate question.
Conversely; if one is to understand, and properly contextualize, the growth of the modern Chinese games industry in the international market, then this will necessarily require a broadening of the scope of the conversation around videogames.
These are phenomena dictated by material developments within the industry, and they will change as the composition of the industry itself does.
Yes, my point though is that up until the last 4-6 years or so, this has been a mostly legitimate phenomenon.
If you want to understand how the Call of Duty series became the culturally predominant image of what “videogames” are in the West by the mid-2010’s, you would be better served by analyzing the history & development trends of the Western Gaming Market, rather than whatever the hell was going on with MapleStory, or Vietnamese mobile gaming, even if the latter two have larger playerbases. Those aren’t who western games companies are selling to, and aren’t who they hire to make directorial decisions. Those people’s experiences are, in the abstract, no less valid or meaningful than those of westerners, but they aren’t relevant to the immediate question.
Conversely; if one is to understand, and properly contextualize, the growth of the modern Chinese games industry in the international market, then this will necessarily require a broadening of the scope of the conversation around videogames.
These are phenomena dictated by material developments within the industry, and they will change as the composition of the industry itself does.