The Influence of Fandoms on Video Game and Animated Series Content

We hear so much about digital media fandoms. But what about the professionals who produce digital content: do they engage with their audiences, and how far does this engagement go? Through industry interviews and case studies, this MRP explores the changing landscape of creator-fan engagement in the animation and video game fields. The study shows that while engagement with fans is hard wired into the gaming industry in a way not seen for animated television series, in gaming too there are real practical and artistic limits to how far creators can listen to fan opinions. In the future, algorithmic audience tracking tools could make creator engagements with audiences and fans easier to carry out, or it could further distance animation creators and possibly video game producers from fan views. The most likely to deepen their interactions with prosumers as the Indie studios, including Indie animation houses.