Games We Envision: Rhetorics of Potentiality in Open Video Game Development Projects

Rhetorics of potentiality help to construct and sustain open video game development projects. Open development is the process of publicly releasing an incomplete game and iterating on it based on community feedback. This process requires active communication with players and a shared vision for the game. Developers establish an initial potentiality in their store descriptions. They maintain this potentiality through blog posts on progress and on the development environment. Players also use rhetorics of potentiality in game reviews and forum posts. Together these sites maintain the vision that the game is currently incomplete while also reaffirming a shared belief in a positive outcome of the development.