Social uses of currencies in video games

Video game currencies, one of the many existing digital currencies, are already at the core of many players’ and companies’ practices. As they are central to the economic models of this sector, it is important to further our understanding of their social uses and the relationship they introduce between video games and money. In this article we analyse these questions, due to the competitive online practices of the FIFA Ultimate Team type. Our results, based on thirty interviews and participant observations, shed light on the differentiated uses of FIFA points and credits in this game, and their participation in structuring differentiated styles responding to the threefold imperative of efficiency, ethics and ludic pleasure. The results suggest a joint socialization of money and games that is more far-reaching than the financialization of daily life.