College of Gaming: Business Administration

Learn business strategy, accounting and finance concepts in the College of Business Administration. Relate strategy gaming with real life business administration concepts like risk management, asset allocation, depreciation and time value of money.

Learn about resrouce management and asset allocation. Consider an RTS, say Starcraft, where the main goal is to destroy your opponent before he does the same to you. In it's core, the game is a resource war. Who has the most money - minerals and vespene gas, will definitely have a great advantage over the enemy. However, having a load of resources doesn't mean victory like in real life - having millions doesn't mean being successful. What if you spent your resources on firebats when your opponent has a dozen carriers upgraded and loaded to the max with interceptors? Utilizing resources correctly is another important thing in the game and one intangible resource is time. If someone can out maneuver you in a short amount of time then that person would have a slight advantage. The time value of money concept where money is worth more now than later can certainly be translated into games.

Risk management and strategies are the next thing one learns after resource management. It's easier to explain risk management in a strategy game where one would have to think whether to risk rushing your opponent as soon as possible or teching up so one gets the ultimate weapon faster. Rushing would definitely win you the game fast if your opponent is unprepared, but what if the other player takes the same choice and rushes you? Strategic thinking comes into play in the heat of battle where you have to decide to abandon your strategy for a better one if the rush fails. The same is true in real life where one has to think to try and take a post graduate degree for a higher potential of earning later on or starting work immediately after college to gain funds. In say a MMORPG or a single player one, the player also has to think long term of what his character's skills and stats and build his character accordingly if he wishes to be competitive.

Team coordination and leadership are the keys to multiplayer games. One can be the best and be in the team of the best yet if there is no teamwork, the chances of victory are slim. In real life, a business has a finance department, sales department, human resources, etc. Individually, these departments are the best at what they do but if they do not work in concert, a business will be spending and wasting resources for no real goal. In say an MMO instance where a large team has to take down a boss monster, each character has their own role to play. Tanks must suck up damage, healers must heal the team and damage dealers must bash down the mighty enemy. Without coordination from say a clan leader or team leader, the players will be defeated as in real life where a CEO and officers oversee the work of the entire company.