Content area
Full Text
Inf Technol Manag (2011) 12:3547 DOI 10.1007/s10799-011-0084-7
Deploying a massively multiplayer online game with a low-latency server infrastructure
Yi Sun Jack Y. Leu
Published online: 26 January 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract The massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) industry has become an important e-commerce segment due to its impact on the economy. A MMOG requires the deployment of dozens to hundreds of n-tiered servers around the world to support millions of concurrent players. A slow response time stemming from an ill-designed network infrastructure could render the game noncompetitive in the marketplace. This study proposes a mixed integer program aimed at identifying nodes on a broadband providers backbone network for hosting a MMOG so that the game distributors revenue is maximized while meeting the throughput, the latency, and the budget requirements. A heuristic for solving the model is presented with an experiment to measure its solution quality and speed.
Keywords Facility Location Model
Massively multiplayer online games
1 Introduction
Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) refer to a genre of online role-play videogames in which gamers can freely create or assume a character in a simulated environment. Some MMOGs can also accommodate user-created contents for managing self-regulating communities and enticing continuing game subscriptions. In addition to
their high development cost, these games also require a massive infrastructure to support millions of players around the world, and it is not uncommon for a game distributor to deploy dozens to hundreds of copies of an application globally. Recently, the MMOG industry has become an important e-commerce segment due to its sizable impact on economy. In fact, the global market for these games was estimated to be $6.6 billion in 2006 and projected to be $14.4 billion in 2012 [31]. In addition, for many game players, playing an MMOG is not only a hobby, but also a life style as a gamer can gain nancial compensation through selling virtual goods, including weaponry and spells, in the context of an MMOG in secondary markets such as online auction sites. This virtual economy was valued US $2.1 billion in 2007 [27]. Some well-known games serve a large group of players with a major economic stake. For example, it was estimated that World of Warcraft had over ten million users in...