Forgotten quarrels in game studies:

monopoly and configurational diversity in esports

Authors

Keywords:

game studies, esports, communication, gamer culture, diversity

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to promote a critique of the thematic monopoly exercised by professional esports. In order to develop this argument, the notion of configurational diversity of esports is presented to consider a set of game situations that compose the sportive activities and experiences aimed at videogames. This diversity would be built by at least four configurations: professional esport, bricolage esport, community esport and school esport. For this construction, we seek support in the literature of game studies, communication, and sports, and in ethnographic fieldwork experiences undertaken between the years 2016 and 2022 with different matrices that make up esports in the country.

Author Biography

Tarcízio Macedo, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)

Doutorando em Comunicação pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Mestre em Comunicação, Cultura e Amazônia pela Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), com período sanduíche na UFBA e UNEB. Especialista em Comunicação Científica na Amazônia pelo Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos (Naea, UFPA). Bacharel em Comunicação Social - Jornalismo pela UFPA. Pesquisador do Laboratório de Artefatos Digitais (LAD, UFRGS), do Grupo de Pesquisa em Comunicação, Consumo e Identidade (Consia, UFPA) e do Grupo de Pesquisa em Inovação e Tecnologia na Comunicação (Inovacom, UFPA).

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Published

2023-03-21

Issue

Section

Artigos | Articles