Competition, Legitimacy, and the Moral Economy of Merit in Gamer Subculture: The Case of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in Spain
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24137/raeic.13.26.6Keywords:
gamer subculture, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, participatory culture, esports, digital identity, moral economy of merit, networked communitiesAbstract
Over the past decades, geek subcultures have shifted from cultural marginality to increasing centrality within digital media ecosystems. This article examines the Spanish competitive community of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (SSBU) as a case study to explore how identity, legitimacy, and belonging are constructed within a contemporary gamer subculture. Adopting a sociocultural and communicative perspective, the study employs a qualitative approach based on 14 in-depth interviews with high-level players from the national competitive circuit. The findings show that competitive identity is built upon a prior fan identity and consolidated through self-identification with a main character that operates as a performative extension of the player. Competition functions as a productive cultural practice sustained by shared match analysis, informal mentorship, and the ritualization of offline tournaments, where visibility and recognition are collectively negotiated. At the same time, a tension emerges between dominant meritocratic narratives and structural constraints related to resources, access, and public exposure. The concept of a “moral economy of merit” is proposed to interpret how symbolic recognition circulates within this hybrid ecosystem situated between leisure, cultural production, and aspirational professionalization. The study contributes to rethinking esports as an expression of “the other” cultural industry.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ruth S. Contreras Espinosa, Pau Insa Fajardo, Jose Luis Eguia Gomez
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