Independent Game Developers and Their Expectations Towards Recommender Systems

Electronic recommender systems and digital distribution as such have transformed many industries. Digital games is one of those industries where the transformation is particularly evident, as more and more games are appearing on the market, and most of the titles are published by independent game developers. Due to electronic recommender systems developers can now self-publish their content without the mediation of third parties and additional costs for their services. This change has significantly decreased the costs of game production, distribution, and marketing, allowing more studios to engage in releasing their games on their own. However, it is unclear how the developers themselves perceive the effect of electronic recommender systems of their business models. This paper presents a qualitative study on the impact of electronic recommender systems in context of independent game development. Based on semi-structured expert interviews with active game developers who have been engaged in promoting their games through electronic recommender systems, our study provides insights on how independent game developers perceive those systems as part of their value chain and their business model. The results of the study concern to (i) independent game developers to establish, adapt, review, or improve their business model, and (ii) providers and developers of electronic recommender systems as indication of needs and requirements as well as expectations of their potential content creators.