Playing in the Grey Zone: The development of the Italian video game industry

This chaper describes the evolution of the Italian video game industry from 1970 to the late 1990s, through a sociological lens. It focuses in particular on the role played by family-operated SMEs in defining the blueprint for the whole industry; on the role of piracy in shaping not only the circulation and distribution practices, but also the production culture; and on how the combination of these two factors contributed to a structural weaknesses of the sector in Italy. Methodologically, the chapter relies on interviews with privileged informants and analysis of archival material.