If you have never played Coco Bongo, EverQuest, Onimusha, or The Sims, you may have trouble fathoming the allure of video and computer games for those who play them. But the fascination—some call it addiction—is no mystery to the businesses that make these games and the devices on which they are played. Companies such as Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sega, and Sony—among many others—have parlayed the consumer passion for computer and video games into a $9.4 billion industry in the United States alone.

The industry will soon get an added boost as large numbers of user communities adopt broadband. Broadband makes for a much more compelling on-line experience and facilitates the new pay-to-play and subscription revenue models, in which players are asked to pay roughly $15 to $20 a month to participate in on-line games such as EverQuest and Ultima Online and in new games like The Sims Online, that use Internet tools like instant messaging and e-mails as critical game components.

To get a handle on what broadband will mean for the game industry—and vice versa—Christian Zabbal, an associate principal in McKinsey’s Montréal office, interviewed John Riccitiello, the president and chief operating officer of Electronic Arts (EA), the...