1819 Virtual Organizations in Commercial Games Michael Barlow University of NSW at ADFA, Australia V viRtuAl oRGAnizAtions in CommERCiAl GAmEs Modern computer games--one of the most common forms of entertainment today--have given rise to a diverse and rapidly changing collection of virtual organizations. These organizations, some of which are particularly large, are focused around the play, and to a lesser extent the development, of the games themselves. All share a number of the properties of the more traditionally recognized commercial or business virtual organizations and teams--electronic com- munication, geographic distribution of the members, changing membership, lack of permanence, and shared sense of purpose or identity (Barnatt, 1995; Jagers, Jansen & Steenbakkers, 1998; Wiesenfeld, Raghuram & Garud, 1999) --though differing in their focus on games; the availability of low-cost gaming platforms (home consoles and cheaper PCs); together with the rapid improvements in the technology (bandwidth and reliability) and penetration of networking hardware, has seen an explosion in the number of online gamers and a corresponding rise in the number and diversity of games-focused virtual organizations. This section briefly covers the major technological issues in com- puter games as they impact virtual organizations tied to the games. the penetration and social impact of Games According to the Entertainment Software Associa- tion--a lobby organization for many of the major game development companies in the United States--50 per-