Grand Theft Auto. Minecraft. Red Dead Redemption 2. Roblox. They’re all video games, but they are wildly different from one another. Two (GTA and RDR2) are insanely detailed, immersive sims that bring players into open-world settings with cinematic story campaigns. One (Minecraft) is also open-world, but it’s a sandbox, where players make everything from the ground up. And finally Roblox is a full-on games creation platform, where users (and brands) have made thousands of different worlds and experiences for fellow players to visit.
So, what do they all have in common?
Roleplay.
These games—and dozens of others—allow players to create their own characters and storylines. And content creators have used those capabilities to put together collaborative worlds where their stories interweave with one another’s. It’s similar to tabletop roleplay game Dungeons & Dragons, but without the math: Creators make a character, come up with …