Gaming Performance

Gaming Performance – The act of playing a video game, particularly in the context of public display or broadcasting, where player’s interactions with both the game and the audience becomes a form of entertainment. Gaming performance involves the player’s agency to shape the audiovisual output of the game through actions like controlling characters, solving puzzles, or engaging in combat. These actions, though bound by the game’s design and mechanics, are carried out in real-time by players, often in front of an audience via live streaming platforms or during esports tournaments.[1]

Players as performers

Gaming performance stands at the intersection of interactive media and performative art, mimicking elements of theatrical performances. Players, much like actors, adopt performative roles, interpreting and executing the game’s embedded narrative, graphical design, and audio elements.[2] In this framework, the video game functions asboth a ludic script[3] providing astructured sequence of interactions and events that guide player in-game actions. However, within this framework, players still have space for improvisation, and full decision-making similar to an actor’s interpretive freedom in embodying a character’s role on stage.[4] In this context, the game’s mechanics serve as performative constraints—rules and systems that define the boundaries of interaction, yet leave room for creative expression.[5] The player’s in-game actions—be it combat moves, dialogue choices, or puzzle-solving—can be likened to performative acts, where the manner of execution (including timing, strategy, and personal engagement) introduces a unique dimension to each playthrough.

Players act as performers, engaging with the game’s text, graphics, and audio while creating a shared experience for spectators, both in-person and virtual​. In this context, gaming performance can be understood as a showing-doing process, where players not only engage with the game world but present this engagement to an audience​.[6] The very presence of audience confirms that gaming is not merely a solitary or private activity but can be a cultural and social event.[7] Indeed, a video game is considered a form of protected speech communicating ideas and social messages through characters, plots and dialogues.[8] As player engage with the game’s mechanics, their decisions and actions generate unique outcomes that are witnessed and often influenced by their audience. The presence of an audience, whether virtual or live, transforms the gameplay into a performative act, akin to actors performing a play. The audience’s feedback, interaction, and participation can further shape the performance, creating a dynamic experience for both the player and the viewer​. Under these circumstances, a possible definition of gaming performance is the protected speech act of showing-doing digital games in front of an audience.[9]

Gaming performance and copyright protection

This evolving landscape has led scholars and legal theorists to explore whether gaming performance could attract copyright protection under European intellectual property law. The key question is whether the player’s actions—transforming and reinterpreting the game’s audiovisual content—constitute an original creative act.[10] While current legal frameworks do not fully recognize gaming performance as an independently protected work, there are growing arguments that the unique interaction between player, game, and audience might warrant such protection in the future​.[11]

Conclusion

In conclusion, gaming performance represents a multifaceted interaction between the player, the game, and the audience. It transforms gameplay into a public and interactive experience that blends elements of theatre, sport, and digital media. As gaming continues to evolve as a cultural and economic force, the recognition of gaming performance as a distinct form of creative expression may gain more traction in both scholarly and legal arenas.

[1] Benjamin T. Sharpe and others, ‘Indexing Esport Performance’ (2022) 1(1) The Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports 1.

[2] C. Fernandez-Vara, ‘Play’s the thing: A framework to study videogames as Performance’ (2009) Proceedings of the 2009 DiGRA International Conference: Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play, Practice and Theory 1-9.

[3] Graeme Kirkpatrick, ‘Ludic form and contemporary performance arts’ (2018) 22(3) Journal For Cultural Research 325.

[4] Patrice Pavis and Loren Kruger, Theatre at the Crossroads of Culture (Routledge 2016).

[5] Jonathan Culpeper and others, Exploring the language of Drama (Routledge 1998).

[6] Richard Schechner, Performance Studies: An Introduction (Routledge 2013).

[7] WIPO, ‘Main Provisions and Benefits of the Beijing Treaty on Audio-visual Performance’ (2012) < https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_beijing_flyer.pdf>.

[8] Brown v Entertainment Merchants Association, 564 U.S 786 (2011)

[9] Salvatore Fasciana, ‘The gaming Theatre Company: Players, gameplay performance and the law’ (2022) 5(2) Interactive Entertainment Law Review 80.

[10] Case C-5/08 Infopaq International A/S v Danske Dagblades Forening [2009] ECR I- 06569.

[11] See Gruenberger A duty to protect the Rights of Performers? Constitutional Foundations of an Intellectual Property Right (2006) 24 Cardozo Arts and Entertainment Law Journal 617.