Changing the (Video) Game: Innovation, User Satisfaction and Copyrights in Network Market Competition

Abstract

This paper explores the emerging trend of user-generated content and innovation in the development of new products and ideas, breaking the traditional producer-consumer paradigm that once dominated the marketplace. In particular, the paper evaluates and compares the relationship between innovation and user satisfaction within the video game industry. To do so, the paper assesses data collected from the online communities of two very different games, Minecraft and Call of Duty in order to determine if there is a link between user-innovation and user-satisfaction in a product. The authors predict that more innovation in a game leads to more user satisfaction. The results of the research do not support this prediction. As observed in the online communities of the two games, there is no clear connection between high levels of innovation with higher user satisfaction. In fact, there is no direct connection between innovation and user satisfaction. However, Minecraft was found to be the more innovative game of the two and did have an overall higher level of user satisfaction than compared to Call of Duty. The data also suggests that Minecraft players experience a greater fluctuation in their enjoyment of the game compared to the players of the game with less innovation, Call of Duty. Finally, “radical innovation,” was only found in Minecraft and not in the game with less player-control. This paper then goes on to discuss the role of innovation and user-generated digital content within the realm of intellectual property law and the resulting copyright implications for video game producers and players alike.