On the geographic distribution of on-line game servers and players

With a shift in the on-line gaming landscape from individually hosted game servers, to gaming services centrally hosted by game publishers, game console manufacturers, and third-party infrastructure providers, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the geographic distribution of current game servers and players. Much like contentdistribution networks are key in improving user web experience, game server placement is key in improving game player experience. This paper explores the current geographic distribution of a global set of servers for several popular on-line games as well as the geographic distribution of a set of players for a particular on-line game server. Our results quantify the breakup of current game servers across continents and show, quite suprisingly, that players do not necessarily migrate to servers that are geographically close.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: NETGAMES
• Authors: Wu-chang Feng, Wu-chi Feng
• Keywords: Current Game Servers, Game Servers, Geographic Distribution, NETGAMES 2003