{"product_id":"play-to-submission-gaming-capitalism-in-a-tech-firm-paperback-softback-9781439922989","title":"Play to Submission; Gaming Capitalism in a Tech Firm (Paperback \/ softback) 9781439922989","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003ePlay to Submission\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eGaming Capitalism in a Tech Firm\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eTongyu Wu (Author)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9781439922989\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 28 June 2024\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e238 pages\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 1.8 cm, 0.399 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e“In her fascinating book, \u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e, Tongyu Wu takes the theory and practice of the organization of games in the creative workplace to an entirely new level. She shows how the increasingly popular ‘gamification’ of work can have very different implications for manager-worker relations, relations among workers themselves, and worker commitment. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of work.”\u003c\/i\u003e-\u003cb\u003eMichael Burawoy\u003c\/b\u003e, Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of \u003ci\u003ePublic Sociology: Between Utopia and Anti-Utopia\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e“Rooted in rich ethnographic research, \u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e is an insightful critical investigation of the gamification of the labor process of software engineers at a corporate center of digital capitalism. Beyond detailing how tech work is comprehensively gamified in a bid to mobilize engineers’ commitment, cooperation, and competition, Wu’s study of the gamified workplace shows how capacities developed in consumption-video game play-are put to work as a labor-control strategy in production.”\u003c\/i\u003e-\u003cb\u003eGreig de Peuter\u003c\/b\u003e, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, and coauthor of \u003ci\u003eGames of Empire: Global Capitalism and Video Games\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e\"Through a series of vivid storytelling and theoretical interventions, Wu explores how gaming culture-especially the sociality of competitive online games-not only shapes worker interactions but also indirectly influences labor control and labor power extraction through various 'work games'.... Beyond its value as a robust and captivating ethnography, \u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e offers a historical lens on the accumulation and iteration of informational capitalism.\"\u003c\/i\u003e-\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial Forces\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e\"[T]his is a remarkable book for those who want to better understand what happens at the core of the Behemoths of Big Tech. It should be of interest not only to researchers in labor studies but to anyone interested in delving into how the most socially prized products today are produced. \u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e offers robust fieldwork, an engaging and enjoyable narrative, and a fascinating analysis and conceptualization of Tongyu Wu’s findings.\"\u003c\/i\u003e-\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eILR Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e's focus on a field of games extends traditional labor game research to new contexts and provides a useful perspective for investigating labor control in creative, immaterial industries.... Wu is attentive to workers’ forms of resistance throughout her book.... [\u003c\/i\u003ePlay to Submission\u003ci\u003e] will therefore be important reading for scholars in game production studies and in broader studies of creative and immaterial labor.\"\u003c\/i\u003e-\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWork and Occupations\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003eGames are often a fun perk of a tech company job, and employees can “play to win” in the competition to succeed. But in studying “Behemoth” (a pseudonym for a top American tech company), Tongyu Wu discovered that gaming work culture was far more insidious.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePlay to Submission\u003c\/i\u003e shows how Behemoth’s games undermined and manipulated workers. They lost their work-life balance and the constant competition made labor organizing difficult. Nonetheless, many workers embraced management’s games as a chance to show off their “gamer” identities and create a workplace culture with privileged insiders and exiled outsiders, with female and migrant workers usually in the latter group. Moreover, Wu indicates this may be the future of work for high- and low-skilled and, creative workers in an environment where capitalists have heightened demands for technology and creativity.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Drawing from 13 months of ethnographic work, Wu presents a persistent reality in which the company reaps the reward of surplus productivity, leaving employees themselves in a highly competitive and sometimes precarious work position.\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"Temple University Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52734389846296,"sku":"9781439922989","price":22.26,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/play-to-submission-gaming-capitalism-in-a-tech-firm-paperback-softback-9781439922989","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}