Social Network Behaviours to Explain the Spread of Online Game

Abstract

One of the most popular contents in the Internet nowadays is the game. An online game is a video game that is played through the Internet or another computer network. However, only a few studies were conducted on how online games became widely spread. This study aims to understand the underlying factors that led to the rapid spreading of online games through simulation. This could be a basis for game developers in choosing the right platform in order to infiltrate the most number of potential gamers. The factors namely the average online friends who access the network and the chances that lead to playing network games was simulated through a NetLogo software, an agent-based model, to understand the spread of online games. The results indicated that the average online friends who access the network (Degree) significantly affect the spread of online games. However, two caveats are needed to popularize the game. One way is to develop the game in a platform where social networks are already established like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and the like. Secondly, build an online social network on top of the digital games delivery platform such as Steam Community.