In the domain of public management, the concept of agency refers to the capacity of individuals or groups to effectively utilise power and resources to achieve certain goals. The formation of agency is significantly influenced by the external institutional environment and how actors perceive social structures. Thus, the agency to win a game can be generated as players familiarise with the game’s operations and understand the story line. But beyond this, there are also players who make mods on a non-profit basis, modifying the game’s program to meet the needs of others. mods, as a form of patching, are different from other fan-created mediated texts. Therefore, studying the agency in gaming community management, where both players and developers interact, offers valuable insights for understanding how to promote public participation, innovation, and effective governance in the context of public management. This approach bridges the gap between the digital world and real-world public management practices.

1. Aarseth, E. (1997). Cybertext: Perspectives on ergodic literature. JHU Press.

2. Aldred, J., & Greenspan, B. (2011). A man chooses, a slave obeys: BioShock and the dystopian logic of convergence. Games and Culture, 6(5), 479–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412011402674

3. Archer, M. S. (2007). Making our way through the world: Human reflexivity and social mobility. Cambridge University Press.

4. Barone, E. (2016). Stardew Valley. ConcernedApe [Windows].

5. Barthes, R., & Dove, M. (1977). The Death of the Author. Fontana.

6. Burger-Helmchen, T., & Cohendet, P. (2011). User communities and social software in the video game industry. Long Range Planning, 44(5–6), 317–343. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2011.09.003

7. Bódi, B. (2022). Videogames and agency. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003298786

8. Cage, D. (2013). The BAFTA annual games lecture: David cage. Available online: http://static.bafta.org/files/david-cage-bafta-lecture-2030.pdf (accessed on 20 January 2025).

9. Champion, E. (2013). Game mods: Design, theory and criticism. Lulu.com.

10. Charles, A. (2009). Playing with one’s self: Notions of subjectivity and agency in digital games. Eludamos: Journal for Computer Game Culture, 3(2), 281–294. https://doi.org/10.7557/23.6010

11. Cole, T., & Gillies, M. (2019). Thinking and doing: Challenge, agency, and the eudaimonic experience in video games. Games and Culture, 16(2), 187–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412019881536

12. Cooren, F., Taylor, J. R., & Van Every, E. J. (2013). Communication as Organizing. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203810682

13. de Certeau, M. (2011). The practice of everyday life. University of California Press.

14. Duff, P. (2021). The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and writing. Routledge.

15. Eco, U. (1979). The role of the reader: Explorations in the semiotics of texts. Indiana University Press.

16. Fu, J., & Zhao, S. (2022). From text poaching to text hunting: Construction of participatory cultural space. Academic Journal of Zhongzhou, 5, 167–172.

17. Gadamer, H. G. (2013). Truth and method. A&C Black.

18. Gee, J. P. (2005). An introduction to discourse analysis: Theory and method. Psychology Press.

19. Grodal, T. (2013). The video game theory reader. Routledge.

20. Hall, S. (2007). Encoding and decoding in the television discourse. In: CCCS Selected Working Papers. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203357071-35

21. Hills, M. (2013). Fiske’s ‘textual productivity’ and digital fandom: Web2.0. Democratisation versus fan distinction?. Journal of Audience & Reception Studies, 10(1), 130–153.

22. Jenkins, H. (2012). Textual poachers: Television fans and participatory culture. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203114339

23. Johnson, D. (2015). Animated frustration or the ambivalence of player agency. Games and Culture, 10(6), 593–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412014567229

24. jojaqualityheadcanons. (2021). SDV’s 1.5 update contains content that plays into racist, colonialist, and imperialist myths and beliefs. Tumblr. Available online: https://crownconstellation.tumblr.com/post/685655497475489792/sdvs-15-update-contains-content-that-plays-into (accessed on 20 January 2025).

25. Kristeva, J. (1970). The text of the novel: Semiological approach to a transformational discursive structure (French). Walter de Gruyter.

26. Lee, D., Lin, D., Bezemer, C. P., & Hassan, A. E. (2021). Building the perfect game: An empirical study of game modifications. International Journal of Game Studies, 17(5).

27. Loudoun, F. M., Larsson-Lund, M., Boyle, B., et al. (2024). The process of negotiating and balancing digital play in everyday life: Adolescents’ narratives. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 31(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2024.2435922

28. Mead, G. H. (2015). Mind, self & society. University of Chicago Press.

29. Mi, X. (2025). From avatar to actant: Player agency, identity transformation, and posthuman play in Baldurs Gate 3. Communications in Humanities Research, 52(1), 245–256. https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/2024.19667

30. Nguyen, C. T. (2025). Games: Agency as art. Oxford University Press.

31. Seiwald, R., & Cleese, J. O. H. N. (2021). Playful material in and beyond video games. Paratextualizing Games: Investigations on the Paraphernalia and Peripheries of Play, 13, 293.

32. Scacchi, W. (2010). Computer game mods, modders, modding, and the mod scene. First Monday, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v15i5.2965

33. Seiwald, R. (2023). Beyond the game itself: Understanding authorial intent, player agency, and materiality as degrees of paratextuality. Games and Culture, 18(6), 718–739. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120231181193

34. Sewell, W. H. (1992). A theory of structure: Duality, agency, and transformation. American Journal of Sociology, 98(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1086/229967

35. Sotamaa, O. (2010). When the game is not enough: Motivations and practices among computer game modding culture. Games and Culture, 5(3), 239–255. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412009359765

36. Stang, S. (2018). Big daddies and their little sisters: Postfeminist fatherhood in the BioShock series. Beyond the Sea McGill-Queen’s University Press, 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780773555556-004

37. Švelch, J. (2020). Paratextuality in game studies: A theoretical review and citation analysis. Available online: http://gamestudies.org/2002/articles/jan_svelch (accessed on 20 January 2025).

38. TimeShade. (2024). Stardew valley expanded wiki. Fandom. Available online: https://stardew-valley-expanded.fandom.com/wiki/Stardew_Valley_Expanded_Wiki (accessed on 20 January 2025).

39. yishaqeni. (2021). Emyn’s diverse ginger island. Nexus Mods: Stardew Valley. Available online: https://www.nexusmods.com/stardewvalley/mods/9708 (accessed on 20 January 2025).