Digital Culture & Society DCS Vol. 5 Issue 2 – Laborious Play and Playful Work I

<p>This double issue of <i>Digital Culture & Society</i> addresses the complex thematic field of the dialectics of play and labour. We will take a closer look at the problem of play and work from two overlapping, albeit not mutually exclusive, perspectives: <i>laborious play</i> and <i>playful work</i>.</p><p>The term <i>laborious play</i> points to practices and processes that turn playful activities into hard work. <i>Laborious play </i>happens whenever playfulness turns into work, and may be observed in such activities such as e-sports, excessive play, »goldfarming«, and Twitch gameplay broadcasting, amongst many others.</p><p>A complementary phenomenon to that of <i>laborious play</i> is the practice and concept of <i>playful work</i>. The promises of a joyful and rewarding working experience have been promoted as »gamification« while critical voices denounce such attempts as ideology, exploitation or simply »bullshit«.</p>