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Alternate reality gaming and convergence culture

The case of Alias

Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford, England, henrik.ornebring{at}politics.ox.ac.uk

Alternate Reality Games (ARGs) are a form of internet-based mystery game in which participants are immersed in a fictional world and engage in collective problem-solving. This article studies three ARGs connected to the TV series Alias (ABC, 2001—6), two of them launched by the network ABC as part of the marketing of the TV series, the third produced by fans. Previous research on ARGs has not sufficiently problematized the fact that many ARGs are marketing tools. While ARGs can be analysed as part of a wider context of convergence culture and fan culture, such an analysis must take into account the underlying commercial logic of popular culture production. Despite the differences found between industry-produced and fan-produced ARGs, they still share a framework of consumption that conforms to corporate goals of marketing and brand-building as well as fan audiences' goals of pleasurable interaction with fictional worlds. •

Key Words: Alias • Alternate Reality Games • convergence culture • fan culture • fictional worlds

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