US Patent 7822809 Creating an interactive gaming environment

Methods for creating an interactive gaming environment are provided. In various embodiments, methods of the present invention may include initializing an interactive game application at a game server which is then characterized as having an active status, notifying a lobby server concerning the active status of the game server, registering the application with a universe management server via the lobby server, and allowing users to join the interactive gaming environment. The users joining the interactive gaming environment may be identified by a server key obtained from the game server.