A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.
A virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter these virtual economies for recreation and entertainment rather than necessity, which means that virtual economies lack the aspects of a real economy that are not considered to be "fun". However, some people do interact with virtual economies for "real" economic benefit.
The Matrix Online was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) initially developed by Monolith Productions and later, a few months after launch, by Sony Online Entertainment. It was advertised as a continuation of the storyline of The Matrix films, as The Wachowskis, the franchise's creators, gave their blessing to the notion of gamers "inherit[ing] the storyline". The game began closed beta-testing in June 2004 which was then opened for people who pre-ordered the game in November 2004. Warner Bros. and Sega released MxO on March 22, 2005 in the United States. It was released in Europe on April 15, 2005. In June, Warner Bros. sold the rights to the game to Sony Online Entertainment, and the game's development and operation was transferred to the latter on August 15, 2005. Sony Online Entertainment shut down operation of the game on July 31, 2009.
Gold Box is a series of role-playing video games produced by SSI from 1988 to 1992. The company acquired a license to produce games based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game from TSR, Inc. These games shared a common engine that came to be known as the "Gold Box Engine" after the gold-colored boxes in which most games of the series were sold.
A massively multiplayer online game is an online game with large numbers of players, often hundreds or thousands, on the same server. MMOs usually feature a huge, persistent open world, although there are games that differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the personal computer, video game console, or smartphones and other mobile devices.
Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, collectively known as the world's largest free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The company's name is derived from the company's original slogan, "Java Gaming Experts". In addition to RuneScape, Jagex has released multiple casual games on its FunOrb portal, as well as other titles. Jagex was owned by U.S. investors between 2012 and 2016, by Chinese investors from 2016–2020, by Macarthur Fortune Holding LLC for about a year in 2020, and is presently owned by The Carlyle Group.
NCSoft Corporation is an international video game developer and publisher headquartered in Pangyo, Seongnam, South Korea, primarily known for the distribution of massively multiplayer online role-playing games such as Lineage and Guild Wars.
Daybreak Game Company LLC is an American video game developer based in San Diego. The company was founded in December 1997 as Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment, but was spun off to an independent investor in February 2015 and renamed Daybreak Game Company. On December 1, 2020, Daybreak Game Company entered into an agreement to be acquired by Enad Global 7.
Free-to-play video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or don't require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which requires a payment before using the game or service. It is also separate from free games, usually referred to as freeware, which are entirely costless. Free-to-play's model is sometimes derisively referred to as free-to-start due to not being entirely free.
Wargaming Seattle, formerly known as Gas Powered Games, was a video game developer located in Redmond, Washington. The development studio was started in May 1998 by Chris Taylor and several other ex-Cavedog Entertainment employees. In 2013 they became the Seattle studio of Wargaming. Wargaming Seattle was closed down in July 2018.
Don Daglow is an American computer game and video game designer, programmer and producer. He is best known for being the creator of early games from several different genres, including pioneering simulation game Utopia for Intellivision in 1981, role-playing game Dungeon in 1975, sports games including the first interactive computer baseball game Baseball in 1971, and the first graphical MMORPG, Neverwinter Nights in 1991. He founded long-standing game developer Stormfront Studios in 1988.
Joseph Ybarra is an American producer and designer of video games. He left Apple Computer in 1982 to work at the new Electronic Arts that was founded by his fellow ex-employee Trip Hawkins. He was the original producer of the first Madden NFL.
The Michael G. Foster School of Business is the business school at the University of Washington in Seattle. It was founded in 1917. The school has more than 50,000 alumni, and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Enrollment each year is about 2,500 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs and more than 1,000 working professionals in its executive education seminars and lifelong learning programs.
Christopher Bryan Hecker is an American video game programmer and commentator. He is the founder of the gaming company Definition Six and best known for his engineering work on Will Wright's 2008 game Spore. Hecker is an advocate for the indie game industry and co-founder of the Indie Game Jam. He has written a number of influential articles on programming and has been an editor for Game Developer Magazine and the Journal of Graphics Tools.
The video game industry in mainland China currently is one of the major markets for the global industry, where more than half a billion people play video games. Revenues from China make up around 25% of nearly US$100 billion video game industry as of 2018, and since 2015 has exceeded the contribution to the global market from the United States. Because of its market size, China has been described as the "Games Industry Capital of the World" and is home to some of the largest video game companies. China has also been a major factor in the growth of esports, both in player talent and in revenue.
Skytap, Inc. is a private company based in Seattle, Washington offering a public service for cloud computing. Skytap Cloud provides self-service access to environments for learning, developing, testing, training, and running enterprise applications. The company was founded as Illumita in 2006 and renamed in 2008.Skytap is also offered by IBM to enable enterprises to migrate and modernize their core business applications.
1C Company is an independent software developer, distributor and publisher with headquarters in Moscow, Russia. It develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, related services and video games.
Mike Marr is the Director of Product Development for Novel, Inc. a videogame and enterprise simulation developer in the Seattle area. As Director of Product Development, he is responsible for management of the design team, company direction, culture, and creation of new intellectual properties.
Sage Bionetworks is a nonprofit organization in Seattle that promotes open science and patient engagement in the research process. It is led by Lara Mangravite. It was co-founded by Stephen Friend and Eric Schadt.
Empire & State is a browser-based, free-to-play political strategy MMORPG developed by Novel. Empire & State was released as an open beta in April 2011 and was fully released in November 2011. In addition to being available through Empire & States website, the game became available to play through a game portal at Bigpoint Games in November 2011. The Lead Designers were Mike Marr and Toby Ragaini with Paul Furio as Technical Director and Keenan Purk as Lead Artist. The game involves the exploration and conquest of a new planet and is designed to appeal to both casual and hard core gamers.
