To give the illusion that the game world is always available, persistence can be simulated. An example of a pervasive game that makes heavy use of a virtual world is Can You See Me Now?, where street runners exist in a virtual world while simultaneously running around the real physical world the game was persistent during play, as well as the virtual world.

In other words, pervasive games share the persistence trait with virtual worlds. The game world of a pervasive game takes place in the real world and so pervasive games are also persistent. The persistence criterion is the trait that separates virtual worlds from other types of video games. When referring to a 'persistent world', world and game persistence are sometimes used interchangeably. Game persistence refers to the persistence of game events within the world (a Groundhog Day MUD is a virtual world where the entire (game) world is reset periodically). World persistence means the world continues to exist and is available to players when they want to access it. Data persistence ensures that any world data is not lost in the event of computer system failure. The persistence of a world can be subdivided into 'game persistence', 'world persistence' and 'data persistence'.

Examples of persistent worlds that exist in video games include Battle Dawn, EVE Online, and Realms of Trinity.Ī persistent world can be achieved by developing and maintaining a single or dynamic instance state of the game world that is shared and viewed by all players around the clock. The first virtual worlds were text-based and often called MUDs, but the term is frequently used in relation to massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) and pervasive games. Virtual world which continues to exist even when there are no people interacting with itĪ persistent world or persistent state world ( PSW) is a virtual world which, by the definition by Richard Bartle, 'continues to exist and develop internally even when there are no people interacting with it'.

Neverwinter nights 2 persistent worlds