academia
Raph Koster predicts the future of the metaverse is a ‘virtual Machu Picchu’ – that you can leave
If you're not exhausted of seeing the word "metaverse" just yet, MMORPG developer Raph Koster has published a blessedly brief whitepaper on the evolution...
GDC’s State of the Games Industry survey once again demonstrates dev skepticism for metaverse and blockchain hokum
This year's State of the Game Industry from GDC - its 11th since beginning the project - delivers a range of insights from the...
For Science: New research tries to link game choices, soft skills, and career paths
I suspect most long-time MMORPG gamers can point to a useful skill, contact, or experience in gaming that helped them in their careers or...
For Science: New study finds positive association between excessive gaming and kids’ cognition
Academics offered up another good reason to play video games this past October: A new study of around 2000 kids found that video game...
Lawful Neutral: How extremism and terrorism slither into online gaming
Back in 2014, something happened in the gaming space, something whose impact was so damaging that even almost 10 years later, I realize that...
Riot Games sponsors design challenge centered on making online spaces safer
Riot Games is not a gaming company most folks in our industry would consider a paragon of community in or off the court. The...
Family of former Ultima Online lead designer and game academic opens college memorial fund in his honor
Back in October of last year, we reported the news that Mike Sellers, best known to our corner of the gaming universe as a...
For Science: New research affirms online friends provide emotional and informational support
You've probably seen the declaration that "online friends are real friends" somewhere on the internet a few times, and while that can seem pretty...
Richard Bartle’s new book seeks to intersect theological thought and MMORPG design
If you're new to our genre, first of all welcome, and second of all you should be familiar with Dr. Richard A. Bartle, a...
MUD creator Richard Bartle’s seminal book on designing MMOs is now free
When MMORPG players encounter the name "Bartle," they think less malt liquor and more a man who helped to pioneer the massively multiplayer online...
New UK research finds opening lootboxes is ‘structurally and psychologically akin’ to gambling
The mountain of research-based evidence against lootboxes has had another leaflet added to the pile. A recent report from researchers at the universities of...
Massively Overthinking: Retaking Quantic’s survey to determine our ‘gamer type’
Five years ago - yes, it's been that long! - we did an Overthinking in which our staff all took Quantic's survey to see...
Ten-year study finds no link between game violence and aggressive behavior from adolescence to adulthood
We've got another leaflet of evidence on the already towering pile of research suggesting no link between video game violence and aggressive behavior. A...
UK study says over 1 in 10 young gamers go into debt due to lootbox spending habits
The pushback against lockboxes in gaming in the UK continues in spite of the matter not exactly making non-stop headlines. A new study from...
For Science: Researchers investigate why some players invert their directional controls
When you have an analog stick to control the camera, does pushing the stick forward tilt the camera up or down? The Guardian published...
For Science: Gaming is good for you, actually, suggests new Oxford study
A new University of Oxford study published this week suggests that there's a "positive relation between game play and well-being."
The paper itself hasn't been...
Researchers argue Pokemon Go caused a discernable increase in car accidents, injuries, and deaths
What is the deadliest video game in existence? If a scientific whitepaper is to be believed, at least in the case of Tippecanoe County,...
EVE Online players submitted over 41M classifications to fight COVID for CCP’s latest Project Discovery initiative
What's better than a science MMO story or a feel-good MMO story? One that's both. And this one is both, as EVE Online and...
For science: New UK study finds that video games improve the mental health, reading, and writing skills of kids
So this one's fun. The results of a study performed in the UK between November and December of 2019 have just been released. The...
Social scientists study Minecraft and One Hour One Life communities
You might think scientists would balk at the idea of using online gaming communities as a test bed for study, given those communities'... strong...
