Podcasting and Play: Gaming Podcasts and the Changing Face of Gaming Media

Abstract

Gaming podcasts, despite being an important aspect of the gaming media landscape, have not yet been the subject of any significant analysis in either game studies or podcast studies. This thesis rectifies this omission by providing the first large scale analysis of gaming podcasts in scholarship. It applies constructivist grounded theory in a mixed methodological approach. To do so, it draws on 23 case studies of specific gaming podcasts, case studies that consist of interviews with gaming podcast creators, surveys of audiences, and textual analysis of shows and related paratexts. Through these I offer a comprehensive examination of the gaming podcast industry and answer key questions related to who is creating and consuming these shows, how these creators and listeners engage with the podcasting medium, and why they chose to do so. In doing so this work showcases how this subfield is representative of broader trends in digital media and labour. While the conditions these creators endure recall Silvio Lorusso’s concept of the ‘entreprecariat’, the ways in which audiences engage with these creators’ shows emphasise the importance of the perception of creator ‘authenticity’. In foregrounding these trends, the thesis provides significant contributions to the fields of game studies, podcast studies, and media studies, and also demonstrates the need for continued research into the specific subfield of gaming podcasts.