A companion to Digital Literary studies .

Chapter 19 

Licensed to play : Digital Games, Player Modifications, and Authorized Production

As the Digital Realm volts and multiples rapidly in to our society . We see the gaming Industry constantly  undergoing construction in its legislation and practices . This re-shaping and moulding comes into play because of the undefinable elements that exist in the world of gaming. Growing concerns to categorize gaming are provoking debates to whether digital games  need their own theoretical guidelines or whether when can be branched with other cultural disciplines.

While we can see that games hold similar properties to these disciplines such as story lines and plots , they are secondary components.

It is  the interactivity that gaming fundamentally differs , the user must participate for the game to function . It is here that I feel digital gaming may need its own theories and observations . Users can become creators therefore changing the roles of the players to co- producers . The modification that exists in the gaming  is an extremely smart market strategy adapted by the producers of games . While they acknowledged the need for these modifications to promote awareness and prolong the games shelf life . It seems that the producers were increasingly renewing the legislation to maximise the profits leading to, in my view the exploitation of the players . While it is very transparent process that the producers are puppet erring in . It is the nature of the game that permits this to happen . These 'modders' create for the symbolic recognition from their peers but also as a type of CV to showcase their talent to potential employers . 

As the distribution networks expand it seems to me that it will become increasingly difficult for the gaming publishers to restrict proliferation of  the modding community. New strategies must now be realized to ensure the protection of their intellectual property .