Strategies for developing native digital games: integrating theme analysis and mathematical programming approaches

Today, the digital gaming industry has a significant impact on the economic, cultural, and social spheres around the world. The advent of real and virtual reality games, particularly in medical science, has taken this industry out of the realm of mere entertainment and has become one of the applied industries. This study aims to optimize the combination of indigenous digital game development strategies, using a goal mathematical programming model. Compared to other common methods, the proposed approach can be a good alternative to studying and using mathematical planning in strategic management, when strategies are evaluated and selected.

Design/methodology/approach:

 The research method of this study is typically mixed qualitative and quantitative for which, the main data were collected using library studies and theoretical framework review, in-depth and structured interviews with 12 experts and specialists in the digital games industry. A filled questionnaire was collected after coding variables. Thematic analysis (reasoning and rational analysis) was used to extract and classify the components. Also, an integration of House of Quality (HOQ), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) techniques were used to determine the variables and parameters required in the mathematical model of the research. Finally, a goal programming model was used to determine the optimal combination of the strategies.

A portfolio of optimal strategies was proposed that were effective in removing barriers and challenges in the game industry, which facilitated the achievement of game development goals with desirable capabilities in implementation. The mentioned strategies were capabilities empowerment and development of game-making experts, targeting and enriching the content of homemade games, financing and facilitating investment, and increasing the level of competitiveness of game-making groups.

Research limitations/implications: 

The limited number of expert group members and the researcher's low access to them, in addition to creating problems related to the distribution and collection of questionnaires, review and increase the computational accuracy of validity and reliability, and also calculating the compatibility rate in the pairwise comparison questionnaires were the challenges and limitations of this study.

Practical implications:

 The digital games industry has a great potential for growth and development, and its favorable economic, cultural and social effects are undeniable. Some of the practical findings of this study are the creation of an elite network and a strong relationship between gaming enthusiasts and the university, empowerment of game developers' knowledge and game studios in the gaming ecosystem, and monitoring and support of governmental and non-governmental policy-making institutions.

Originality/value: 

In this paper, a new approach was proposed for evaluating and optimizing strategies for developing indigenous digital games to overcome their challenges and meet the relevant objectives in compliance with their feasibility (ease) of implementation. Also, the use of mathematical modeling in evaluating and selecting optimal strategies in this industry distinguishes this study from the literature.