106413 - COMPANIES: CASE STUDIES

Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Adso Fernández Baena

Trimester: First term

Credits: 4

The subject "Companies: Case Study" belongs to the Degree in Video Game Design and Production and is part of the subjects related to the business area. The course contributes to students developing analytical skills to help make economic and management decisions in a video game project, especially considering the fit of production in the market in social and cultural terms. The video game market is worked on both from the perspective of producers (video game industry) and the perspective of customers (video game sector), always from the perspective of a competitive product or service business and analyzing discourse, participation and reception. It is desired that the student be able to understand the product or service as a project on which it is necessary to make not only technical decisions but also business decisions (strategy, distribution channel, investment and return on investment, competition and positioning, activities launch marketing, etc.), as well as being able to place industry productions within a social and cultural framework.

This subject has methodological and digital resources to make possible its continuity in non-contact mode in the case of being necessary for reasons related to the Covid-19. In this way, the achievement of the same knowledge and skills that are specified in this teaching plan will be ensured.

At the end of the course the student must be able to:

E12.3. Describe benchmarks of independent video game studies.
E13.1. Demonstrate knowledge about the structure and organization of a company.
E13.3. Describe the basics of marketing and market research.
E13.5. Describe business models related to the video game industry
E14.3. Contribute to generating a culture of learning, error management, feedback and criticism management.

The course uses the following working methodologies: lectures, presentations, video capsules, case studies, research and critical reading of articles. 

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the subject will be taught in online teaching mode in theory hours, and in face-to-face teaching mode in practice hours.

Subject 1. Work planning

1.1 Case: Red Dead Redemption / Rockstar

What does the company say? What do workers say? How does it affect sales?

Topic 2 Content controversy

2.1 Case: The Last of Us: Animals

2.2 Case: Cyberpunk 2077: Transsexuality

2.3 Case: Blasphemous: Religion

Subject 3. Legal controversy

3.1 Loot Boxes

3.2 E-Sports

Item 4. Cultural Controversy

4.1 Japanese games in the West

4.2 Selling in China. Cases: Call of Duty and Tian An Men, Animal Crossing and Hong Kong, Devotion and Taiwan / China

Topic 5. Fan communities

5.1 Case: Fallout 76 Subscription

With the aim of collecting evidence of the achievement of the expected learning outcomes, the following activities of an evaluative nature will be carried out (related to all the common competences):

A1. Group work: Video summary (Evidence of learning outcomes E12.3) 

Students will have to make and present a video about a video game or an independent study analyzing their business management and communication taking into account the learning achieved in the subject.

A2. Individual work: Written essay (Evidence of E13.5 and E14.3 learning outcomes) 

Students will have to write an essay on a real controversy related to the typologies seen in the subject, with critical analysis of the management carried out and proposals for improvement.

A3. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student (Evidence of E13.1 and E13.3 learning outcomes)

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented.

A4. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject (Evidence of E13.1 and E13.3 learning outcomes)

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented.

General criteria of the activities:

• The teacher will present a statement for each activity and the evaluation and / or rubric criteria.
• The teacher will inform of the dates and format of the delivery of the activity

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the activities will be adapted. The adaptation will be as follows:

A1. Group work: Video summary (Evidence of learning outcomes E12.3) 

Students will have to make and present a video about a video game or an independent study analyzing their business management and communication taking into account the learning achieved in the subject. The necessary presentation and tutorials will be done online.

A2. Individual work: Written essay (Evidence of E13.5 and E14.3 learning outcomes) 

Students will have to write an essay on a real controversy related to the typologies seen in the subject, with critical analysis of the management carried out and proposals for improvement. The necessary presentation and tutorials will be done online.

A3. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student (Evidence of E13.1 and E13.3 learning outcomes)

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented. The exam will be online using the virtual campus tools.

A4. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject (Evidence of E13.1 and E13.3 learning outcomes)

Passing the exam is mandatory to pass the course. Otherwise, the student will have a No Presented. The exam will be online using the virtual campus tools.

General criteria of the activities:

• The teacher will present a statement for each activity and the evaluation and / or rubric criteria.
• The teacher will inform of the dates and format of the delivery of the activity

The grade of each student will be calculated following the following percentages:

A1. Group work: Video summary 30%

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay 30%

A3. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student 20%

A4. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject 20%

Final grade = A1 x 0,3 + A2 x 0,3 + A3 x 0,2 + A4 x 0,2

Considerations:
- It is necessary to obtain a mark superior to 5 in the final exam to pass the asignatura.
- An activity not delivered or delivered late and without justification (court summons or medical matter) counts as a 0.
- It is the responsibility of the student to avoid plagiarism in all its forms. In the case of detecting a plagiarism, regardless of its scope, in some activity it will correspond to have a note of 0. In addition, the professor will communicate to the Head of Studies the situation so that measures applicable in matter of sanctioning regime are taken. .

Recovery:

• It is necessary to obtain a mark superior to 5 in the final exam of recovery to pass the asignatura.
• The mark of the resit exam will be equivalent to the final mark.
• In case of passing the recovery, the maximum final mark of the subject will be 7.

This course, due to the situation generated by the Covid-19, the evaluation system will be as follows:

A1. Group work: Video summary 30%

A2. Individual work: Writing a theoretical essay 30%

A3. Partial exam: Continuous assessment exam of the student 20%

A4. Final exam: Final evaluation exam of the subject 20%

Final grade = A1 x 0,3 + A2 x 0,3 + A3 x 0,2 + A4 x 0,2

Aguilar, J. Fainé, I., Monguet, JM (2010) Why are some companies successful and others not? Success stories, key ideas and tools to innovate. Deusto.

Álvarez Peralta & Viltard. Strategic analysis tools.

Tringali, G. (1999). 15 proven success stories. How the attitude of companies helps us to overcome moments of crisis. Aguilar.

Schreier, Jason. "Blood, sweat and pixels." Paper Heroes, 2020.

Navarro Remesal, Víctor. "Thinking about the game. 25 paths for game studies." Shangrila, 2020.

Webster, James G. "The marketplace of attention. How audiences take shape in a digital age." MIT Press, 2014.

Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Smith, A., Bernarda, G. (2015). Designing the value proposition. Deusto.

Osterwalder, A., Yves Pigneur, Y. (2011). Generation of business models. Deusto.

Lee, Seungcheol Austin, Pulos, Alexis (Eds.). "Transnational Contexts of Development History, Sociality, and Society of Play. Video Games in East Asia". Palgrave, 2016.