The journal Games and Culture has recently published the article The Business of Play: Financialization and Optimization in World of Warcraft written by Daniel Nielsen.

Original abstract: In World of Warcraft (WOW), thousands of players work together to analyze the game’s rules and maximize their rewards. Organized boosting—a paid player service—is widely seen as undermining the meritocratic ideal that ties rewards to effort and skill. Drawing on semistructured interviews with six former providers of boosting services, this study argues that optimization in digital games is not solely a strategic choice, but often a necessity shaped by financial pressures. The introduction of token-based economic elements, such as the WoW token, nudges players into financial speculation and wealth accumulation, transforming optimization into a form of labor. This study considers boosting within the framework of financialization, highlighting how optimization mirrors broader tensions in a game culture shaped by corporate commodification practices.