Table 2. Ten core VWs selected for detailed analysis.
Entertainment Companies Ed-Tech Companies Platform & Year Recommended Age Developer Platform & Year Recommended Age Developer Fortnite (2017)
13+
Epic Games
Animal Jam (2010)
7–12
WildWorks
Minecraft (2009)
1
7+
Mojang
Secret Builders
(2007)
6–14
Rocket Paper Scissors
LLC
Roblox (2005)
10+
Roblox
Corporation
Poptropica (2007)
6–15
Pearson
Education/Sandbox
and Co
Habbo Hotel
(2000)
13+
Sulake
Corporation
Whyville (1999)
8–15
Numedeon, Inc
NeoPets (1999)
13+
Jumpstart Games
2
JumpStart 3D
(1994)
5–12
Jumpstart Games
1
Since there are multiple servers for
Minecraft
, the analysis focuses on a specific server named
Autcraft
for children with autism.
2
NeoPets
initially
started as an entertainment company with several owners: Independent (1999 to 2005), Viacom (2005 to 2014), Jumpstart Games (2014 to present).
To investigate the specific design characteristics of communication and control fea-
tures, the comparison of the 10 selected platforms focused on two specific dimensions:
communication and moderation, and parental control. Three levels of ratings were devel-
oped to investigate the overall degree of freedom for these two evaluation components:
low, moderate (or scaffolded), and high. The degree of freedom refers to the extent to
which a player can act and interact with other players. Features supporting communication
and moderation were evaluated based on the types of communication channels that were
enabled in the game and how player-generated communication content (e.g., text and
voice chat) was filtered and moderated. The evaluation of the types of available parent
controls was based on three levels of complexity for customized features (e.g., enabling
and disabling different modes of chat, purchasing, adding friends) that were available to
parents. Amongst these three levels, the low level represents retroactive reporting systems
and pre-scripted filters; the moderate level represents a mixture of automatic filtering and
human monitoring for at least one type of communication system; the high level represents
a hybrid of system/algorithm filters and human monitoring for all communication systems.
