Remixing Games: A Survey of Video Game Modders' Practices

Abstract

This thesis investigates the practices of video game modding, focusing on how and why modders, creators of video game mods, create mods. A video game mod is a modification of professionally published video games. It is a product of digital culture, having made accessible the digital tools and knowledge required for fans to make remixes of pre-existing material. The methodology involves both a quantitative and qualitative approach, using a survey and interviews to discover what modders think of their practice. I argue that modding would not be possible without remix, the affordances brought on by the proliferation of digital tools that make altering works easy and accessible for regular consumers.

I also argue that modding must be understood as a fandom. The study finds that modders are often fans of specific video games or video game series and use mods to further develop this relationship, similar to other practices of fan creativity, such as fan art or fan fiction. Modding practices are heavily influenced by modding communities because modders often rely on community created tools to make mods, as well as feeding off the positive reinforcements of others. Modders do not primarily create mods for themselves; they create for an audience of other modders and consumers, although they stress the importance of finding enjoyment in the process. Furthermore, the prospect of finding a job in the video game industry does not entice modders; they are amateurs and prefer to keep modding as their hobby. Modding is precarious playbor, because even though modders create mods as a hobby, mods contribute value to the games they modify. Modders do not have any equity in their creations, and if modders cease to be useful for the corporations that control the intellectual property their practice relies on, they can be denied access and left with little recourse. Even though modding is precarious playbor, modders do not see the corporations that developed the game they are fans of as adversaries. Modders respect the efforts of video game developers, and even though they are aware of the precarious situation modders inhabit, they are often more grateful towards the developers for creating the games they love, and for letting modding exist in the first place.