What is it like to be a Danish Game Maker? What the Game Industry in Denmark tells us about Game Production

Abstract

This presentation provides the first production studies account of Danish game makers, an overlooked but significant regional part of the Western game industries. We focus on three issues: The history of the Danish games industry show that the often-invoked demoscene does not explain the relative success of Nordic game industries; that Danish game makers consider aesthetic independence - creating new kinds of games - more important than being financially independent or making games as cultural statements; and finally, that Danish game developers are ambivalent about growth, often emphasizing merely paying the rent or the importance of a good workplace. The presentation thus provides a key understanding of an under- researched region with emphasis on its history, its cultural status as product and culture, and the self-identification of game makers with broader implications for research on game production studies on 'indies', and commercial game makers.