Case Studies: Community

Bloodborne has built a deep and committed fanbase since it was released exclusively on PlayStation 4 in 2015. Despite a decade passing since, the action role playing game has remained the subject of intense speculation of what its next iteration will be.

Crunchyroll is not a traditional streaming TV service. It is a fandom hub, with engagement touch points that encourage viewers to deepen their fandom. By providing ways to watch, play, listen, spend money, consume news, and participate in live events, Crunchyroll puts anime fans on a pathway to superfandom.

Hyperpop music emerged in the 2010s, led by producer A.G. Cook, his record label PC Music, and its particular style of exaggerated, self-referential pop. From the start, though, hyperpop was always more than a music genre. It was catalysed by backlash to consumerism and late-stage capitalism, which shaped everything from the sound of the music to t...

Founded in 2010, FaZe Clan quickly rose to popularity through videos of trick-shots in Call of Duty. It is now the most famous esports team in the world. However, as of 2021, defining FaZe Clan as an esports team is limitative. In the ten years since its birth, it evolved into a talent, media, and cross-entertainment fandom monetisation business, m...

As the incumbent social networks grow ever more complex, vying to compete for weekly active use and engagement metrics, they leave behind their original driving use cases. The most successful have been simple: Facebook was ‘who am I? What my friends are doing?’.