How practitioners approach gameplay requirements? An exploration into the context of massive multiplayer online role-playing games

Gameplay requirements are central to game development. In the business context of massive multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOGs) where game companies´ revenues rely on players´ monthly subscriptions, gameplay is also recognized as the key to player retention. However, information on what gameplay requirements are and how practitioners `engineer´ them in real life is scarce. This exploratory study investigates how practitioners developing MMOGs reason about gameplay requirements and handle them in their projects. 12 practitioners from three leading MMOGs-producing companies were interviewed and their gameplay requirements documents were reviewed. The study´s most important findings are that in MMOG projects: (1) gameplay requirements are co-created with players, (2) are perceived and treated by practitioners as sets of choices and consequences, (3) gameplay is endless within a MMOG, and while gameplay requirements do not support any game-end goal, they do support a level-end goal, (4) `paper-prototyping´ and play-testing are pivotal to gameplay validation, (5) balancing the elements of the gameplay is an on-going task, perceived as the most difficult and labor-consuming, (6) gameplay happens both in-game and out-of-the game. We conclude with discussion on validity threats to our results and on implications for research and practice.