Game companies use five
components—four core components and one complementary one—in a "5Cs
model" to ensure the control and development of virtual worlds. A
multidisciplinary review of the literature reveals that game
companies make use of copyright, codes, creativity, and community to
do this. They use the contract as a complementary component to
reinforce their control over the four basic components and to
compensate for the lacunae they present. In order to examine the
extent to which game companies use the contract in this way, an
analysis is performed of all contractual documents from a sample of
20 virtual worlds, providing evidence of general trends and
emphasizing any differences between the virtual worlds in terms of
the business and gaming models sought by each game company. An
explanation is provided of why these contracts do not constitute a
sustainable model for the game companies, given the high level of
legal insecurity they present. Some basic recommendations can be
made in order to improve the sustainability of the 5Cs model by
modifying these contracts in such a way that they are enforceable
and by matching their content with appropriate business and gaming
models. This could lead to further studies aimed at providing
answers to some of the intriguing issues affecting scholars and
practitioners.
Keywords: Community, computer codes,
contract, control, copyright, creativity, EULA, property rights,
virtual world