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Abstract: Through a retrospective account of the evolution of China's online game industry, this paper examines the political, economic and cultural factors, with an emphasis on formal policy making, that have shaped the industry. Drawing on the theory of fragmented authoritarianism, this study finds that 10 Chinese online games are deeply shaped by the political environment of the autocratic Chinese system, which features inter-ministerial competition and intertwined state control and commercial interests. The current Chinese online market is combined with a strong private sector presence and a considerable government role. The Chinese government seems to have achieved its policy goal of helping Chinese companies to dominate the domestic market. However, the extensive and ambiguous government 15 policy and regulations, have, to some extent, restrains innovation. To that end, whether China can accomplish its three-stepped importation-substitution-creation strategy in this highly creative industry remains to be seen and warrants future investigation."

Editorial by Timothy Loew, executive director of Mass DiGi, encouraging Massachusetts to tap the state's game workforce potential and avoid mistakes of Rhode Island in financing 38 Studios

Abstract: "The video game industry is a billion dollar industry with an ever-growing fan base. Massachusetts, along with other states, has begun to take an interest in further developing this dynamic industry. A problem facing many policy makers and economic developers is accurately defining the video game industry, determining the types of workers that form of human capital within its workforce and where these businesses are located. This study helps to solve this problem by converting video game credits, found in all video games, into Standard Occupational Codes to identify the types of workers who comprise the industry and by conducting spatial analysis using Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS). It also uses the Occupational Information Network to evaluate what forms of human capital comprises the video game industry. The results show the video game workforce comprises both creative workers such as artists and musicians, but also computer programmers, engineers, and business management and marketing professionals. This workforce tends to be concentrated not only in larger U.S. metropolitan areas but also in regions with a significant high-technology workforce, college towns, and government laboratories. Also, as this diverse workforce contains a wide variety of skills and abilities, a common theme is being able to work together as a team to develop a product. This study is part of a growing body of research and initiatives to identify and to locate new, creative industries within metropolitan regions. This research will contribute to future research using occupational analysis to identify new and growing industries."