Social media effect on digital game culture: Example of Pubg (Player Unknown's Battlegrounds)

Digital games are nowadays played by individuals to use their spare time; It can be defined as games played in digital space, arising from the interaction between the electronic devices owned by the individual and the individual. With the developments in internet technologies;Traditional games that have been going on since the first periods of history have evolved into "digital games" by entering the process of change. However, this process of change did not only occur within the scope of games, but also transformed the communication between individuals into a new structure with the emergence of the concept of "social media" and "social media platforms". Social media platforms have provided individuals with the opportunity to obtain information easily and instantly. However; The individual who spends his free time playing digital games; uses social media platforms to access information about these games. These platforms contribute to the proliferation of digital games, the formation of a "digital game culture" as a result of the ongoing interactions between individuals playing digital games, and the characteristics of a "virtual community" among themselves as a result of this culture, and the individuals who play the game eventually become the "target audience" of the culture industry. Within the scope of this research, it is aimed to reveal the effect of social media platforms on digital game culture in the context of the culture industry through Player Unknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) game. For this purpose, social media platforms "Youtube and Twitch" took part in the research in terms of hosting the most content related to digital games, while the game "Player Unknown's Battlegrounds", one of today's popular digital games, was included in the research in terms of examining digital games. The sample of the study consists of individuals aged 15-30, who play Player Unknown's Battlegrounds game for more than 3 hours a day, reside in Istanbul and follow the content of the game they play on social media platforms. In this sense, face-to-face interviews were conducted with the individuals constituting the sample of the study using the "in-depth interview" technique, one of the qualitative research techniques, and the questions prepared in semi-structured form were directed to the participants. Findings and analyzes regarding the data obtained as a result of the interviews are included in the conclusion part of the research.