PvP is a term broadly used in video game to describe any game, or any aspect of a game in the process of competing against each other. There are entire gaming genres included in PvP, such as first-person shooter or real- time strategy games. Moreover, those entire gaming genres can be limited to an optional part of an otherwise PvE game. PvP is ofter called as player killing or PKing in other computer role-playing games. PKing is used almost entirely in cases where the combat was not consensual. For that reason, it has taken on a negative tone. When discuss about traditional role-playing games and live-action gaming with the approximately the same meaning as the term PvP, and to a lesser extent PKing, PvP and PKing are often adopted.
PvP is type of multiplayer interaction within a game between two or more live participants. PvP is designed to distinct from games where players compete against computer controlled opponents known as player versus environment (PvE) or player versus monster (PvM); as such, the terms are most often used in games where both activities exist, particularly MMORPGs, MUDs and other computer role-playing games.