But, in reality, most videogames today are made by small clusters of people working on shoestring budgets, relying on existing, freely available software platforms, and hoping, often in vain, to rise to stardom-in short, people working like artists. Aiming squarely at this disconnect between perception and reality. The Videogame Industry Does Not Exist presents a more accurate and nuanced picture of how the vast majority of videogame-makers work. Drawing on insights from over 400 game developers, Brendan Keogh develops a new framework for understanding videogame production as a cultural field in all its complexity. Part-time hobbyists, aspirational students, client-facing contractors, struggling independents, artist collectives, and tightly knit local scenes-all have a place within this model. But proponents of noncommercial game-making don't exist in isolation; Keogh shows how they and their commercial counterparts are deeply interconnected and codependent in the field of videogame production.