ABSTRACT
The notion of community in the core gaming experience is just as crucial as identity as though the general stereotype looks at players/gamers as asocial and reclusive individuals they are concurrently a part of several networks and communities. India as a nation has begun to embrace an increasingly digital identity and, with an inevitable increase in proliferation of internet that is fueled by ever-falling prices of mobile and broadband connectivity, has become an attractive venue for game developers. The game world can also be studied as a culture of its own where specific acts attain new meanings in-game. Studies could focus on various in-game traditions, rituals and processes and the constant blurring of the real and virtual divide in process as these acts acquire real meanings in the players’ psyche over time. As free-to-play games begin to offer social experiences that parallel the hardcore, game companies will have to strive to find ways to get gamers to part with money.
