This presentation deals with the identity work by Australian content creators playing the multi-player online game, Fortnite, and concludes that there are many different levels of identity that are indexed in the videos.

One level relates to the game itself, specifically the player’s skill level and playing style. In the game, players choose an avatar (skin) where the species, gender and clothing are preset. Many content creators have become associated with a particular skin, and so any player using this skin may be referred to by the streamer’s name (that’s a Lachlan). Some have been given a special personalised Icon Series skin which indexes them as an influential player (Lachlan, Loserfruit and Lazarbeam), and skins associated with early seasons index more skilled players.

The streamers analysed are very well known to each other, and in fact used to live in a house together in Sydney, Australia, and so mix private and public identities by addressing one another by their real names and usernames (Lannan/Lazarbeam, Elliott/Muselk). The use of terms specific to the game (the ludolect, cf. Ennslin, 2012) is another way of showing an identity as an experienced player.

An additional important finding is the commercial identity of the streamers. Many streams and videos begin with a call for viewers to subscribe, the number of subscriptions, and information about commercial products. Some videos are sponsored by companies, and other products can be mentioned (for example, Muselk advertises Bang energy drink), and streamers have their own merchandise, all of which are explicitly mentioned in videos.

Thus, we see streamers indexing their shifting identities as public, private and commercial individuals.

Reference

Ennslin, A. (2012). The language of gaming. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.