Jan Houška’s research while affiliated with Charles University in Prague and other places

The paper applies language management theory to study the interactions of international with local workers (simple management) and language policies (organised management) in 10 Czech video game studios. By longitudinally interviewing foreign game developers from Central-Eastern and Western Europe, as well as North and South America, I identified the languages they reportedly encountered and used in their jobs. I distinguished 3 categories: Czech-dominant studios, dominant language mix, and English-dominant studios. In the first category, the Czech language was said to be the language of studio communication and to serve as an instrument of exclusion and glass ceiling for internationals’ promotion. In the second category, language use divided between English, Czech, and other Slavic languages, resulting in more inclusionary work practices but, Slavic versus English linguistic clusters in informal communication. In the third category, English was the lingua franca but Czechs’ insufficient English proficiency was identified as an issue on the micro level. Overall, a dichotomous thinking about languages was problematised. While Czech as the dominant language was detrimental for the hiring of internationals, companies managed to include workers using Slavic languages other than Czech. Thus, English was not the only language of inclusion but a one of several language choices in Czech game companies.

In recent years, semi-peripheral industries have produced numerous video games that use local settings but aim at a global audience. We explore this trend using five cases of commercially released Czech indie games that feature local themes and settings. Our research combines qualitative content analysis of representation with developer interviews, which we analyze to reveal motivations for including local content , its implementation, localization, and reception . We find that the games provide a unique image of the country by virtue of showing the country's peripheral regions and everyday material culture. The developers’ motivations for using local culture range from creative (creating believable stories and environments) to practical (access to reference material). They maintain a dual allegiance to the international and local audiences because while they make most of their profits abroad, the local communities play key roles by providing initial feedback, encouragement, and development assistance.

The paper addresses the job experiences of expatriate and remote workers in the Czech game industry through their evaluation of its negative and positive features. The Czech game industry is divided between the video game field of smaller indie teams and the dominant industry incumbents, drawing from the same indie ethos. By using the push-pull migration model, both positive and negatively perceived qualities of the Czech game industry are discussed, complemented by the concept of boundaryless careers to address virtual connections to this production environment by remote workers. Method of repeated semi-structured interviews was employed to cover industry developments in a state of constant flux. 28 participants, mostly belonging to the triad of programmers, artists and designers were interviewed, with 14 from Eastern Europe and 14 from the West (i.e., Western Europe and North and South America). Respondents were pulled to the Czech game industry due to it being highly diversified into many mid-sized companies. However, they were met with shock factors, pushing them to move to other industries. Among them were discrepancies between indie and industrial qualities. Many studios had long-existing live service products, using outdated proprietary engines. Higher company structures were inaccessible due to being occupied by local leads. Similar contention appeared with remote workers, undermining the notion of boundaryless careers void of cultural influences. The Czech game industry was, likewise, evaluated as non-developed concerning labour inclusivity or diversified portfolios of games, with the risk of falling behind in the highly competitive and transnational video game field.