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Scientific Article details

Title Control Over Virtual Worlds By Game Companies: Issues And Recommendations
ID_Doc 74421
Authors Roquilly, C
Title Control Over Virtual Worlds By Game Companies: Issues And Recommendations
Year 2011
Published Mis Quarterly, 35, 3
DOI
Abstract Game companies use five components four core components and one complementary one in a 5Cs model to ensure the control and development of virtual worlds. A multidisciplinary review of the literature reveals that game companies make use of copyright, codes, creativity, and community to do this. They use the contract as a complementary component to reinforce their control over the four basic components and to compensate for the lacunae they present. In order to examine the extent to which game companies use the contract in this way, an analysis is performed of all contractual documents from a sample of 20 virtual worlds, providing evidence of general trends and emphasizing any differences between the virtual worlds in terms of the business and gaming models sought by each game company. An explanation is provided of why these contracts do not constitute a sustainable model for the game companies, given the high level of legal insecurity they present. Some basic recommendations can be made in order to improve the sustainability of the 5Cs model by modifying these contracts in such away that they are enforceable and by matching their content with appropriate business and gaming models. This could lead to further studies aimed at providing answers to some of the intriguing issues affecting scholars and practitioners.
Author Keywords Community; computer codes; contract; control; copyright; creativity; EULA; property rights; virtual world
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED); Social Science Citation Index (SSCI)
EID WOS:000294088300009
WoS Category Computer Science, Information Systems; Information Science & Library Science; Management
Research Area Computer Science; Information Science & Library Science; Business & Economics
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