Games as travel guides : a look at meaningful downloadable content and its connection to locational context

Abstract

This paper aims to discuss the surging phenomenon of games placing more focus on locational context to create stories and play concepts as well as collaboration with local businesses. The latest trend of distributing exclusive downloadable content (DLC) at location-specific events acts as an incentive for gamers to travel locally or overseas. Such strategies help to promote traffic for places both from an environmental perspective and from a cultural perspective. The paper therefore will identify various opportunities of how content development could make an impact on a larger economic scale on the gaming industry, the tourism industry, and local businesses.