Online Gaming and Playful Organization

Online Gaming and Playful Organization explores the cultural impact of gaming on organizations. While gaming is typically a form of entertainment, this book argues that gaming communities can function as a useful analogue for work organizations because both are comprised of diverse members who must communicate and collaborate to solve complex problems.

By examining the impact of gaming beyond its own context, this book argues that one can apply numerous lessons from the virtual world of online games to the “real” world of businesses, schools, and other professional communities. Most notably, it articulates the concept of playful organizations, defined as organizations in which the ability to play has become so institutionalized that it is spontaneous, creative, and enjoyable.

Based on original research, Online Gaming and Playful Organization establishes an interdisciplinary framework for further conceptual and empirical investigation into this topic, with the dual goals of a better understanding of the role of online games and virtual worlds, and of the possible structural and cultural transformation of public and private organizations.

Harald Warmelink is an Assistant Professor at Delft University of Technology, as well as a manager and teacher of game design projects at HKU Utrecht School of the Arts, the Netherlands.