Massively Multiplayer Online Gaming

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) are games played simultaneously by users on the Internet. They can be played using most network platforms including personal computers, video game consoles, smartphones, and other mobile devices. Among the top companies in online gaming are Microsoft, Tencent, Adivision Blizzard, Sony Computer Entertainment, Apple, Electronic Arts, King, Nintendo, Ubisof, Sega, Zynga, and Square Enix. On MMOGs, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, or as in the case of Lineage, the most popular game in South Korea, more than 4 million players, play online on a company-owned server. This entry provides an introduction to MMOGs, briefly outlining their historical and societal context, describing their social and economic dimensions, and concluding with a discussion of how the growth and development of the gaming ...