Counting Clicks: Esports, Neoliberalism and the Affective Power of Gameplay Metrics

Brock, Thomas ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0965-0945 (2021) Counting Clicks: Esports, Neoliberalism and the Affective Power of Gameplay Metrics. In: Global eSports Transformation of Cultural Perceptions of Competitive Gaming. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 150136877X

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Abstract

This chapter argues that the gameplay metrics used to measure player performances in videogames enable the competitive logic of capitalism, and a neoliberal subjectivity, to circulate through esports cultures. Drawing on a case study of the esport Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2), this chapter will critically consider how its metrics, like ‘actions-per-minute’, ‘match-making rank’ and ‘kills-deaths-assists’, reward neoliberal bodily performances. In particular, it will show how these metrics entangle players into a discourse of ‘competitive uncertainty’ (Beer 2016 also monitor and optimise their performances to remain competitive within game’s market.