Video games involving multiple players serve as informal gathering places akin to old-time pubs and coffee shops, and can thereby boost players’ social connections, researchers argue in a new study.
In their report, Constance Steinkuehler of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dmitri Williams of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign question the perception that kids who play computer games are isolating themselves, at least when they are playing so-called massively multiplayer online games (MMOs).