Massively multiplayer online games (MMORPG) as a prototext for LitRPG (based on “Clan Dominance” by Dem Mikhailov, “Play to Live: AlterWorld” by D. Rus, and “The Way of the Shaman: Survival Quest” by V. Mahanenko)

The research aims to prove that the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) serves as a prototext for LitRPG novels, providing ready-made plot patterns, conflict systems, and ethical-philosophical dilemmas associated with life in a world governed by game algorithms. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that, for the first time, the MMORPG is examined as a prototext for Russian-language LitRPG novels (Dem Mikhailov’s “Clan Dominance”, D. Rus’s “Play to Live: AlterWorld”, and V. Mahanenko’s “The Way of the Shaman: Survival Quest”). The results demonstrate that within the literary space of the genre, traditional game mechanics – such as conditional death and subsequent resurrection (respawning), quest-based plot structures, and loot systems – acquire the function of a philosophical toolkit. This allows the author to explore fundamental questions: free choice within a deterministic world of rules, identity construction through a digital twin, the boundaries between the real and the virtual, and the true cost of achievements within a simulated environment.