Non-Cooperative Game
A game in which binding agreements are not possible; each player chooses independently.
Definition
Analysis is via strategic-form or extensive-form games with individual strategy spaces and utilities, solved by equilibrium concepts.
Solutions concepts include Nash, subgame-perfect, Bayesian, and correlated equilibria.
Intuition
Every agent optimizes privately — cooperation must be self-enforcing.
It is the umbrella framework for most strategic modeling in economics and CS.
Worked example
Cournot duopoly, the Prisoner's Dilemma, and first-price auctions are non-cooperative.
Traffic routing is naturally non-cooperative — drivers minimize their own travel time.
The math
Nash (1951) proved existence of mixed equilibria in finite non-cooperative games. Refinements tighten predictions in dynamic and incomplete-information settings.
Non-cooperative foundations for cooperative concepts are provided by the Nash program.
Where it is used
Default framework for IO, auction theory, algorithmic game theory, and multi-agent RL.
Self-enforcing cooperation is recovered via repetition or contracts.
More in Game theory
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