With the increasing popularity of gaming as entertainment, we're on he cusp of a future where media consumption is predominately interactive, raising questions about crafting policies to govern virtual worlds. This talk will chart the social, cultural, and economic rise of gaming, provide an overview of past examples of where gaming has been used to learn more about human behaviors en masse, and invite attendees to consider a world where an increasing amount of social interaction, economic activity, and even governance is done through virtual, video-game inspired worlds.