Play between love and labor: The practice of gold farming in China

Abstract

This article scrutinizes the widespread practice of gold farming in China through two-plus years of field research conducted in 13 gold farming studios across five cities involving 64 participants. Informed by current research and theoretical deliberations on digital labor and co-creative production, the analysis offers insight on the rationales, motivations, and perceptions of gold farming through the practitioners’ perspectives of studio owners, managers, and players. It also explores the role of gold farm studios in the business cycle. Our discussion contextualizes gold farming as a special type of fan labor through transformative gameplay enmeshed in the global game capitalist market and contributes to the understanding of China’s youth-led game culture in general and the variegated intricacies of the trade of gold farming in particular.