Glossary of Games Terminology

A wider list of games-related terminology is available at Wikipedia. The below collects those terms generally related to business, policy and related matters.

A

• AAA (Also "triple-A") - A high-budget game with a large development team, or game studios that make them. AAA games are usually multiplatform, have multimillion-dollar budgets, and expect to sell millions of copies.

• abandonware - The idea of a game being forgotten about or abandoned by its developers for any number of reasons, including copyright issues.

• alpha release - An initial, incomplete version of a game. Alpha versions are usually released early in the development process to test a game's most critical functionality and prototype design concepts.

• artificial intelligence (AI) - Algorithms used to generate responsive, adaptive or intelligent game behavior, primarily in non-player characters.

• asset flipping - The practice of creating a game using 'free' art and audio assets, either from an online marketplace or the default stock of assets included with many game engines. Asset-flips are often of very poor quality designed to catch onto a currently popular theme to turn a quick profit. It mimics the practice of flipping in real estate markets.

• augmented reality (AR) - Supplementing a real-world environment with computer-generated perceptual information, which may add to or mask the physical environment. Augmented reality alters the perception of a physical environment, whereas virtual reality replaces the physical environment with a simulated one.

B

• battle royale game - A video game genre that blends elements of survival games with last-man-standing gameplay. Players search for equipment while eliminating competitors in a shrinking safe zone.

• beta release/ beta testing - An early release of a video game, following its alpha release, where the game developer seeks feedback from players and testers to remove bugs prior to the product's commercial release

• bot - Short for robot. A non-playable character which is controlled by an artificial intelligence (AI). The player may compete against or work with a bot to complete objectives.

C

• casual games - Casual games are played on an infrequent and spontaneous basis, without a long-term commitment. Casual video games are distinguished by a low learning curve and ease of access, often web-based for mobile phones or personal computers. Most casual games have simplified controls, with one or two buttons dominating play. Casual games can normally be played in small periods of time, and may not have a save feature.

• chiptune - Music composed for the microchip-based audio hardware of early home computers and gaming consoles. Due to the technical limitations of earlier video game hardware, chiptune came to define a style of its own, known for its "soaring flutelike melodies, buzzing square wave bass, rapid arpeggios, and noisy gated percussion.

• closed beta - A beta testing period where only specific people have access to the game.

• cloud gaming - Cloud gaming operates with a cloud-gaming server running the game and performing all the processing, receiving controller input actions from networked users and streaming audio and video of the gameplay to these users. Essentially, cloud gaming is like a streaming video service, but interactive.

• content rating - Classifying video games according to suitability-related factors such as violent or sexual content contained within a game. Some countries use industry self-regulation models to accomplish this, while others have government rating boards.

• cooperative gameplay (co-op) - Multiplayer gameplay where the players work together on the same team against computer-controlled opponents or challenges.

• CPU - Central processing unit; the part of the computer or video game which executes the games' program. Historically, this also often referred to a non-player character controlled by the game software using artificial intelligence, usually serving as an opponent to the player or players.

• crafting - A game mechanic that allows the player-character to construct game items, such as armor, weapons or medicine from combinations of other items. Most MMOGs feature a crafting system.

D

• day one (also release date) - The day of release for a video game; often accompanied by a 'day-one patch' to repair issues that could not be addressed in time for the game's distribution.

• developer - The production company which makes a video game, or the person(s) working for these companies who are actively involved in the game's creation.

• dialog tree - A means of providing a menu of dialog choices to the player when interacting with a non-player character so as to learn more from that character, influence the character's actions, and otherwise progress the game's story. The tree nature comes from typically having multiple branching levels of questions and replies that can be explored.

• digital rights management (DRM) - Software tools for copyright protection

• downloadable content (DLC) - Additional content for a video game that is acquired through a digital delivery system.

• drop rate - The probability of obtaining a particular item from a loot box or booster pack in certain video games, particularly in games with microtransactions.

• dynamic game difficulty balancing - The automatic change in parameters, scenarios, and behaviors in a video game in real-time, based on the player's ability, with the aim of avoiding player boredom or frustration.

E

• emergent gameplay - Gameplay that develops as a result of player creativity, rather than the game's programmed structure.

• emulator - A software program that is designed to replicate the software and hardware of a video game console on more-modern computers and other devices. Emulators typically include the ability to load software images of cartridges and other similar hardware-based game distribution methods from the earlier hardware generations, in addition to more-traditional software images.

• esports - Organized competitions around competitive video games, ranging from amateur to professional levels.

• experience point (XP) - In games that feature the ability for the player-character to gain levels, such as role-playing video games, experience points are used to denote progress towards the next character level.