game development and die

Introduction
	Back in 1990, Sega had it rough. Nintendo was dominating the market, with the release of Super Mario Bros. 3 furthering their lead. Sega needed a new mascot to represent their Genesis console, and they needed to think fast. Fast forward to the late 90s, and the Sonic franchise was proven to be a major hit – but unfortunately, Sega’s consoles were not. With the failure of the Dreamcast and Saturn to catch on, many Sonic fans were left without a true continuation of the mainline Sonic games. As a result, a group of dedicated Sonic fans brought it upon themselves to make the game they had all been waiting for by themselves, becoming self-taught game developers along the way. Over time, the Sonic Fan Game community grew, with each member bringing new ideas and sharing their skills. A forum was established to house their conversations and to keep track of community events – known as the Sonic Fan Games HQ (SFGHQ). With community events like the Sonic Amateur Games Expo (SAGE) and the sillier Really Amateur Games Expo (RAGE) getting established along the way, SFGHQ became a hub for indie game development of all sorts. What the members of SFGHQ didn’t know, is that they had accidentally created their own affinity space.
	Affinity spaces had been employed and studied long before the concept of institutionalized learning, and now that technology advancements have revolutionized communication, affinity spaces are blazing the trails of education once again. From picking up new skills through YouTube How-To tutorial series (Lindgren 164), to keeping up with your favorite shows (Aljanahi 36), affinity spaces are broad-reaching, conceptual spaces in which people come together because of a shared interest. Anyone can join and contribute at whatever level they see appropriate to their situation, and because spaces can be created anywhere where people gather, whether in-person or over the web, affinity spaces have the advantage of being easy to join and participate in. One particular community where this form of communication works well is with Fan Game Developers, who use affinity spaces to learn skills and share work daily, all without realizing they’re a part of one.
	Game development has become increasingly more accessible over the years, with the advancements of computer graphics processing reaching levels unattainable by high-budget movie studios from just a few decades prior. Because of this, there isn’t much research available for affinity spaces that are focused on game development. To compound this technical advancement and research gap, communication over the internet has exploded to feature multiple fully-fledged communities through various chat formats. Like what Curwood has observed, many members of these affinity spaces have “portals” with which they can use to hop from one community to another (Curwood 678). From forums on web pages that have message boards full of game demos, to Discord servers bustling with fledgling developers who are just starting out, the versatility of affinity spaces makes it a challenge to find conversations that take place, exclusive to these spaces. As Murphey defined, these online communities have been expatiated for the purpose of serving as an affinity space, which expand past one service alone (Murphey 152).
	As Duncan states, “Web 2.0” technology has brought people together, but how do affinity spaces tie into how independent game developers start and further their careers (Duncan 21)? It’s a complex question that begins with the level of experience that each individual member has, what their visions are, and how technically inclined they want to become. In the Sonic Fan Games HQ forums and chat, there are hundreds of ambitious and self-driven developers who bring their own experiences and expertise to the community, and together have amassed hundreds of fan-led projects over several years of Sonic Amateur Game Expos, along with the sillier Really Amateur Game Expos. Developers involved in these communities have gone on to launch their own titles on Kickstarter, license out their work to game publishers like SEGA, and more, which raises questions that need to be answered. How does an affinity space such as SFGHQ provide its participants with the resources and expertise needed to learn how to craft their own game, and how does this participation replace a more conventional education?