ufajournalФольклор и антропология городаUrban Folklore and Anthropology2658-38952782-1757The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration10.22394/2658-3895-2023-6-1-108-126ufajournal-26Research ArticleАКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЯCURRENT RESEARCHПарадоксы разработки геолокационной игры: взгляд изнутри корпорацииGeolocation game development paradoxes: A corporate perspectiveГлазковКонстантин П.GlazkovKonstantin P.

Константин Павлович Глазков,

Москва.

Konstantin P. Glazkov,

Moscow.

glazkov.konst@gmail.comВысшая школа экономикиРоссияHigher School of Economics, MoscowRussian Federation20232901202551Цифровая этнография108126Copyright © Глазков К.П., 20252025Глазков К.П.Glazkov K.P.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.https://ufajournal.ranepa.ru/jour/article/view/26

В статье представлено описание внутренних процессов разработки геолокационной игры в крупной российской финансовой корпорации. По плану игра должна стимулировать клиентов Корпорации расплачиваться с помощью QR-кодов, которые будут расположены в компаниях-партнерах и отделениях банка. По сути, Корпорация вкладывается в распространение новой технологии — QR-платежей — которая широко используется в азиатских странах, но пока мало знакома российской аудитории. Центральный фокус исследования — осмысление факторов, определяющих, каким именно будет готовое игровое приложение.

Исследование опирается на данные включенного наблюдения (сентябрь– декабрь 2019 года), которые автору удалось собрать в ходе совместной работы над игровыми механиками приложения, а также включает семь полуструктурированных интервью с разработчиками.

Перед разработчиками стоит задача сделать игру «интересной» — то есть такой, чтобы пользователи в наибольшей степени были вовлечены в игровую механику приложения и при этом следовали заложенному финансовому посылу — совершали QR-платежи. В ходе решения этой задачи возникают ситуации неразрешимого выбора (парадоксы). Мы выделяем три парадокса: 1) отсутствие понимания, на какую аудиторию ориентировано приложение, 2) необходимость завуалировать в игре основную игровую механику — совершение QR-платежей, 3) необходимость обеспечить сохранность клиентских данных. Все три парадокса не имеют однозначно правильного решения. Поэтому разработчики вынуждены преодолевать их, принимая весьма спорные решения в ситуации высокой неопределенности. В результате мы хотим показать, что судьба крупного технологического перехода, коим является внедрение QRплатежей в России, зависит не только от принятых разработчиками решений, но и от многоуровневого контекста, в котором протекает процесс разработки, от резистентности сложившихся пользовательских практик оплаты и от того, как в дальнейшем будет протекать конкуренция за рынок QR-платежей.

The current article is a description of development processes of a geolocation game in a big Russian financial corporation. As intended, the game should encourage corporate clients to pay via QR codes provided by partner companies and branches of the bank. Basically, the corporation invests into promoting a new technology — QR payments — very popular in Asian countries but still relatively unknown to the Russian public. The main focus of the research is comprehension of the factors that define what the final version of the game app will look like.

The research is based on participant observation data gathered in September–December 2019 during collaborative work on the app’s game mechanics, as well as on seven semi-structured interviews with developers.

Developers are required to make the game “interesting”, that is, to immerse the users into the game mechanics of the app to the largest extent possible, while encouraging them to follow the intended financial pattern — to make QR payments. This leads to impossible choices also known as paradoxes, and we highlight three of those: 1) lack of understanding who are the target audience of the app, 2) necessity to camouflage the core gaming mechanic of the game — making QR payments, 3) necessity to protect clients’ data. All the three paradoxes have no unambiguously correct answer, therefore the developers need to overcome them by making controversial decisions with high degree of uncertainty. All in all, we intend to demonstrate that a significant technological transition that introducing of QR payments in Russia depends not only on the decisions made by the developers but also on a multi-level context within which the development process takes place, on resistance of already existing payment practices and on how competition on QR payments market will unfold. 

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The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest present.