System-performance modeling for massively multiplayer online role-playing games

Massively multiplayer role-playing games (MMORPGs) are among the most popular types of online game. A successful title may have tens of thousands or even millions of subscribers and, at any given time, may have thousands of players online. This paper presents a method for modeling MMORPG system performance and applies it in an analysis of two real MMORPGs. The results show that a strong linear relationship exists between performance metrics at the server side and the number of concurrent players online. As a result, utilization of IT resources, including network traffic and server load, can be predicted, given the number of concurrent players. The performance model presented here can be used for automated IT resource allocation at runtime and is thus useful in the context of utility computing and on demand systems. © Copyright 2006 by International Business Machines Corporation.