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Explain the impact of digitally convergent media platforms on video games production, distribution and consumption, Refer to Minecraft to support your answer. (15 marks)Minecraft was developed and created in 2009 and released on the 17th may 2009. Minecraft is an open world game created in Java and even though it has a very simple design it has been very popular with 53,000 copies being sold a day and 154 million copies sold in total. This is down to the heavy use digitally convergent media such as easy downloads and free advertising from the hundreds of Youtubers with channels dedicated to Minecraft helping with the production, distribution and consumption of the game.The team at Minecraft created and developed online distribution which helped to save cost as no hard copies of the disc and cases for the game were needed to be made. It also saved distribution cost and they did not have to send their product across the world to games and stores. It also helped to save money as it struck deals with brands such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft who would create promotional deals to sell the game with their products such as DS’s and Xbox’s. This helped sell product from both companies and was easy advertisement. This also led to paid add ons being created on Xbox and Ps4 versions of the game, again creating more profit for both companies. Another reason the creators of Minecraft chose to release physical copies later than the downloadable version was to combat against piracy and hacking. This made it harder for people to copy the game and sell it illegally and let people have it for free. This would have caused a lesser income to the company and potentially given it a bad image.Digitally convergent media also helped with the advertising of Minecraft. This is because even when Minecraft first started it had people making videos on YouTube. This acts as free advertising for the company as it showcasing the game to millions of people without any money going towards the process, people also look up to certain Youtubers making them more inclined to by the game. After Minecraft had more sales it had money for proper advertisement such as adverts on TV alongside before YouTube videos. Due to the large amount of Youtubers creating Minecraft content it has created a large social media following resulting in a large community being created. This has led to forums and a Minecraft wiki being created which has led to more advertisement as well as the introduction of aspects such as modding, this is where the code of the game is changed to change specific features in the game. The Minecraft community was made even stronger when the online servers where made, this helped to bring the community together and was readily available due to internet.The introduction of the Minecraft servers lead to a huge increase in the community resulting in things such as Minecon, Minecraft merchandise as well as Lego Minecraft and the Minecraft story mode. These are all examples of media synergy. This helps promote both Minecraft and Lego to a new but similar market ultimately increasing sales in both products. The merchandise gives a new way of income for the company as well as a chance of synergy for another company as they would need someone to produce and create the product.Overall Minecraft has a become a globally successful game due to their use of online services and digital convergence which has helped to advertise the product cheaply and broaden the audience as well help the production, distribution and consumption of the game. ................
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