The Invisible Hand in Virtual Worlds
The Economic Order of Video Games

Studies the economic order that governs virtual worlds and ways individuals work together to govern social relations in the digital space.

Matthew McCaffrey (Edited by)

9781108839716, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 February 2022

262 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.48 kg

Video games aren't merely casual entertainment: they are the heart of one of the fastest-growing media industries in the world, and a cultural phenomenon in their own right. Gaming has evolved from a niche pastime into a global business that rivals film and television, creating, in the process, new art forms and social arenas and have become the subject of endless public debate. This book shows that games also provide a unique space in which to study economic behavior. Games, more than any other form of media, demonstrate the power and creative potential of human choice - an idea that's also the foundation of economic thinking. Whether it's developing trade relations, or the use of money, or even complex legal institutions, virtual worlds provide a captivating and entertaining arena for studying economic behavior in its most dynamic forms. The overarching theme of the volume is the economic order that governs virtual worlds, and the many ways individuals work together, often without knowing it, to govern their social relations in digital space.

Introduction Matthew McCaffrey
1. The Economic Meaning of Play: Ludology and Praxeology in Video Game Worlds Matthew McCaffrey
2. Spontaneous Order and Video Game Narrative Zachary Gochenour
3. Law and Economics in a World of Dragons Robert S. Cavender
4. Minerals, Titans, and Connections: The Political Economy of Empire in the World of 'EVE Online' Stephen Davies
5. The Origins of Money in 'Diablo II' Solomon M. Stein
6. A Virtual Weimar: Hyperinflation in 'Diablo III' Peter C. Earle
7. The Facilitate or Acquire Decision: The Tipping Points for Strategies Towards User-Generated Content in Massive Multiplayer Online Game Platforms Robert Conan Ryan
8. Mod the World: How Entrepreneurs Learn from Video Game 'Modding' Communities William Gordon Miller
9. Levels without Bosses? Entrepreneurship and Valve's Organizational Design Ulrich Möller and Matthew McCaffrey.

Subject Areas: Computer games / online games: strategy guides [UDX], Organizational theory & behaviour [KJU], Business innovation [KJD], Political economy [KCP], Behavioural economics [KCK], Economic theory & philosophy [KCA], Economics [KC]