Gamers’ Eden: The Functioning and Role of Gaming Houses Inside the Esports Ecosystem

Abstract

The current paper aims to analyse the complex array of practices entailed by teams and esports professionals by looking at one of the most peculiar phenomena of the esports field: gaming houses, i.e., “co-operative living arrangement[s] where several players of video games, usually professional esports players, live in the same residence” [1]. Representing one of the first attempts to assess the role of gaming houses as emerging esports spaces based on new forms of playbour and production of and by users, the paper comprises an innovative adaptation of PRISMA protocol for literature and scoping reviews to shed light on how the technological, material, and social elements are enacted through gaming houses’ activities, which mirror the ones entailed by digital platforms. In fact, through the three moves of encoding, aggregating and computing users’ interactions [2], gaming houses (re)produce virtual and analogical goods, translating consumer practices and profoundly influencing the broader esports ecosystem. Finally, by framing themselves as ideal hives for pro players, i.e., a prototypical breeding ground for esports professionals, these structures push for new paradigms of work-life balance and users’ production, thus leading to a further reflection on the nature of play and working practices in our contemporary network society [3].