Online Gaming
Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) has attracted a large number of players by offering users the ability to interact concurrently within for example, a science fiction world full of genre-based fantasy, such as World of Warcraft and Lineage (Song & Lee, 2007; Huang et al; 2019). MMOG’s are usually characterized by anonymity, media richness, real-time interaction and a lack of boundaries. Unique features and updated new game content making the challenges seem endless (Shen & Williams, 2011; Wu et al; 2018).
Similarly, Social Network Games (SNGs) with applications integrated into social networking platforms are also becoming popular (Domahidi et al; 2018), including games, such as MyPlace, Clash of Clans, Farmville or games embedded in social networks (i.e. Facebook). Normally SNGs players are friends, families or co-workers with its emphasis on social interaction and content sharing, such as game achievements and virtual status, rather than hardcore competition (Paavilainen et al; 2017). However, interaction is not the main distinction between MMOGs and SNGs as the interaction could occur both within the games and on social networks as well. The majority of SNG’s players are playing with users in their existing friendship networks, while MMOGs users can play with anyone within or outside their offline networks (Bergstrom, 2019). With an anonymous identity in the form of avatars, nicknames or icons, players’ true identities are not revealed. This anonymity may lead the players to feel more goal-oriented and excited in playing against strangers or any gamer from their social networks. It perhaps contributes to higher level of addiction to the game due to the competitive aspect of the engagement.
Compared to SNGs, Mobile Social Games (MSGs) has made mobile games a more popular choice for leisure activities as it removes the need for larger gaming platforms and allows for shorter entertainment time periods (Baabdullah, 2018). The distinction made between the three types of game is summarized in Figure 1. The spread of 4G and 5G services has helped mobile gaming to reach new levels of user experience, which maximizes the value of convenience and flexibility of play. Given these changes, MSGs could perhaps be seen as casual rather than hardcore gaming. This particular platform has easy learning curves, lower entry barriers, play on-the-go and always-connected mobile features; they are much more accessible and convenient than other gaming platforms (Ha et al; 2007; Paavilainen et al; 2017). With a mobile device, MSGs blend gaming with mobile content sharing, which allows players to view and share game-related content (Goh et al; 2017), such as game rewards, achievement status, photos, text or other multimedia.