Organizing the performativity of a creative vision: a longitudinal study (1987-2013) of the rationalization of game design at Ubisoft

David Massé (1, 2, 3) , Héloïse Berkowitz (4) , Thomas Paris (5)

1 Télécom Paris
2 SES - Département Sciences Economiques et Sociales
3 NOS - Numérique, Organisation et Société
4 LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail
5 GREGHEC - Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion

In the context of a structuring video game industry and growing game development teams, this article explores how Ubisoft creates, develops and deploys a game design vision. The authors highlight the importance of creative leadership by showing the role of translators and trainers in coupling the leader’s vision to his or her socio-material presence, as well as the importance of the density of devices to implement this vision.

Keywords: Performativity; creative vision; leadership; socio-materiality

Domains: Business administration

David Massé, Héloïse Berkowitz, Thomas Paris. Organizing the performativity of a creative vision: a longitudinal study (1987-2013) of the rationalization of game design at Ubisoft. Entreprises et Histoire, 2022, 109, pp.117-137. ⟨10.54695/eh.109.0117⟩. ⟨hal-03955944v1⟩