The French video game industry and the 2003 crisis: an example of a new form of political involvement

Résumé 0

The economic crisis of the early 2000s that hit the French video game sector was remarkable both in its magnitude and consequences. There was an immediate impact on the ecosystem of the video game market in terms of direct and indirect jobs in addition to broader consequences for the sector. In particular, the crisis encouraged greater involvement on the part of public authorities and a new political vision that followed a period of harsh criticism. The year 2003 proved to be pivotal as the video game industry evolved from a craft sector to operate in a globalized market. Political discourse also moved on to encourage a level of professionalization that would structure and stabilize the sector in France. Parliamentary and governmental sources of the 11th and 12th legislatures (1997-2007) are used to analyze the emergence and affirmation of a new political culture in relation to the video games industry in France that occurred in a context of crisis. By contextualizing and analyzing political discourse, we highlight the impact of the economic context of the sector on parliamentary discursive practices. In seeking to understand the initiatives of public authorities, this paper enriches the relatively sparse political historiography of regulation and policy discourses that address the video game industry.