PLATFORM EKOSİSTEMİNDE OYUNLAR VE KULLANICI EMEĞİ: STEAM PLATFORMU ÖRNEĞİNDE KAPİTALİST DEĞERİN ÜRETİM PRATİKLERİ

Abstract

This thesis examines how digital gaming platforms have transformed into a new sphere of power and surveillance as they have permeated everyday life, using the Steam platform as a case study. The study addresses the question of how gaming has shifted from being a cultural practice to becoming commodified, and how user labor has been rendered invisible in this process; it discusses this within the framework of the constant renewal of economic structures through the dismantling of the old, the functioning of surveillance as a regulatory mechanism, and the conversion of user data into economic value. The research is based on in-depth interviews conducted with 25 participants who use Steam. The interviews were analyzed using a phenomenological approach, and the findings were categorized around three main themes: Algorithmic Bias, Accessibility, and New Surveillance and Control Mechanisms. The findings reveal that users’ relationships with the platform are not homogeneous and that platform usage constitutes a multilayered experience in which several practices intertwine. The findings reveal that Steam’s dollar-based pricing policy in Turkey directly influences users’ purchasing behavior. At the same time, it appears that in-platform economic tools, such as the Steam Wallet, facilitate the circulation of value within the platform while also reinforcing users’ dependence on it. It has been determined that algorithmic recommendation systems, on the one hand, facilitate users’ access to games and the discovery process, while on the other hand, they steer the user experience by creating a limited discovery space through recommended content. In the context of surveillance, it has been observed that a reciprocal relationship of surveillance and visibility emerges, in which users observe, evaluate, and make each other visible. Furthermore, it was concluded that the content users produce through game guides, reviews, mods, and forum posts is part of a value-creation process that can be evaluated within the framework of Terranova’s concept of “unpaid labor.” In conclusion, the thesis argues that Steam users’ position vis-à-vis the platform cannot be defined as either completely free or entirely passive. Users operate within the structural conditions set by the platform, but they negotiate these conditions in various ways and, at times, develop practices aimed at transcending existing boundaries. For this reason, the user experience is viewed as a multilayered form of relationship shaped by the interplay between the opportunities offered by the platform and the limits it imposes.