This analysis began with testing of the relevance of digital research in terms of the gaming industry, resulting in an acknowledgement that non-vested academic analysis is not prevalent enough, while the kernels of data usage are already rapidly progressing; a potentially poor position for players whose data is already invested in game servers.  This examination also highlighted the unexpected detection of reverse data usage in chapter one, this time by the modding community, who are skilled enough to have games servers and utilise game development data to update and change game assets; game developers tend to be aware of this inclination, to the point where the modding community often serves as a form of unpaid labour in the game development post-release (Taylor, 2017b).

Chapter two formulated an examination of the theoretical and philosophical background of the games industry relevant to the Ludic Aesthetic, and brought the principles surrounding the differing aspects of game development together into a single bank of philosophical direction and theory.  This was drawn on to analyse the examples given as evidence of the emerging Ludic Aesthetic in chapter three, and as part of the examination of those and other examples determining the aspects of the Ludic Aesthetic in chapter four. The Ludic Aesthetic was then categorised against the principles outlined and established through the author Sianne Ngai in chapter two, to establish whether the Ludic Aesthetic met the requirements of a category against other established aesthetic categories already recognised in the field.

As a result of this analysis, it is here recognised the despite significant failings in the gaming industry as a whole in terms of the recognition of the entire world population, any of whom may be gamers, significant inroads to narrative development are being made, perhaps due to game development being accessible to anyone, as established in chapter two by Anthropy, through the loss of requirement for an understanding of coding, since even game development has been gamified into connecting asset blocks.  This has led to the release of games such as That Dragon, Cancer and other experiential examples such as Never Alone, a game that attempts to preserve the folklore, stories and values of a shrinking Alaskan tribe, and represents a significant strength in terms of gaming as a whole but particularly narrative games, and games that deliver a simulated experience through slow pace and the building of the player’s inner narratives.

It has been evidenced that while filmic and gamic styles differ significantly enough that films and games from the same source material do not necessarily translate successfully, there remains a clear drive in the television and film industry to access gamic styles, with the result that changes are apparent in the way productions are designed and presented, particularly in terms of time usage and focus.  The missing element that film and television are attempting to engage with appears to be action and consequence and the result of free will, as shown in the example of the Stranger Things television series, and the ‘San Junipero’ episode of Black Mirror, and which sometimes takes the form of ludonarrative dissonance within a production, as in the case of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.  While the potential results of action and consequence within an actual game are limited by those game parameters, this discussion has also considered how the gamification of real objectives such as military development, teaching, and online dating can recreate ourselves as avatars, with a genuine risk of real harm; despite this, the advantages of this gamification process mean that rather than overturn the approach, instead it is likely that ways of balancing risks will instead develop.  The positive attributes of real-life immersion have also been considered in terms of efficiency, pain management and improved training levels for fine work such as surgery.

With consideration of the triangular relationship between games, film and literature develops an understanding of the drivers of the aesthetic expansion, namely play pleasure, community and collaboration, and action and consequence testing.  These three drivers are balanced against the three requirements for the categorisation of a new aesthetic as relates to capitalism as the predominant social structure; production, circulation, and consumption. The evidence here analysed amply reflects the games industry’s ability to meet these requirements in a number of ways.  Significant evidence was also available of the existence of the three proposed aesthetic drivers, with play pleasure so great it can reach the point of categorisation as an addiction and mental illness, a requirement for collaboration so definitive that games knowledge can represent a form of community-based crypto-currency, and the action-consequence requirement significant enough that RPGs are recreating themselves as pure open-world creations.  While time will fully evidence its presence or non-presence in wider culture, it is fair to conclude that the Ludic Aesthetic bears consideration in the wider field of digital aesthetics, and digital cultures generally.

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