Social network analysis of the global game jam network

Abstract

The Global Game Jam® is an annual game jam event promoting on-site and collaborative game development experiences. It attracts tens of thousands of participants, called "game jammers" or "jammers", from all around the world developing games at the same weekend to the same theme. The key characteristics of this event can be described on the one hand as social and communal, and on the other hand, as global and international. In this work, we analyze the social connections between the jammers with social network analysis and discuss the potential of social network analysis for this field. Our results indicate that jammers are most likely to work on teams between two and five members and often work together with the same colleagues. Also, while the game jam is a highly international event, jammers barely change their geographical locations. The Global Game Jam location graph is thus barely connected but divided into subgraphs.