In this episode I unpack Kücklich’s (2005) publication titled “Precarious playbour: Modders and the digital game industry,” which problematizes modding as a form of free labor.

Click here for this episode’s show notes.

How to Get Started with Computer Science Education

━━━━━━━━━━━━━

00:00 Intro

00:57 Paper introduction

05:26 History of modding

06:58 The economy of modding

12:05 Modding as playbour

13:18 Modding as precarious labour

14:20 The modding community as a dispersed multitude

15:25 The future of modding

15:37 Lingering questions and thoughts

15:50 When might CS education also be a form of playbour?

16:42 At what point does modding become a problematic form of playbour in your eyes?

17:12 How might we discuss the ethics around modding and playbour in CS classrooms?

19:53 What are other examples of playbour that might be discussed in CS education classes?

21:16 Outro