Creative production in the digital age: A network analysis of the digital game industry in China

This paper aims to explore the impact of digital technology on the spatial organization of emerging creative industries. Using data related to China’s digital game industry, it analyzes the characteristics of the network structure of the digital game industry and its formation and evolution mechanisms. The findings indicate that a few large cities dominate the network structure of China’s digital game industry and that the significance of local administrative centers within the network is increasing. Even though firms can work remotely to finish a game, their production activities are still closely connected to the major game production centers through the digital platform. Moreover, it is non-geographic factors such as social relations and virtual proximity rather than geographical proximity that determine the network structure, and the role of geography is decreasing with the widespread use of digital technology. The evolving online labour and online distribution based on digital platforms have also influenced the construction of digital game industry networks.