Shyness is a stable trait present in all people. It is based on the negative evaluation of social situations and personal skills in those situations. Negative physiological, cognitive, emotional and behavioral reaction in social situations are characteristic for shyness, and those reactions vary in intensity in relation to the situation. Online video games are a specific medium characterized by the possibility for socialization and a common activity which can ease the process of socialization. Because of such characteristics, online video games could be a favorable environment for shy individuals which experience difficulties in face to face social interactions. The goal of this study was to examine the friendship structure of gamers, especially in relation to shyness, and the relationship of shyness and different motivations for online play. Additionally, the correlates of the amount of playing time were researched, because the amount of playing time can indicate problematic use of online games. The results were gathered through an online survey which contained items measuring shyness from the 'Shyness and assertiveness questionnaire' and constructed items for measuring other variables. The results have shown that more shy gamers play more to escape the problems from 'real life' and because of virtual friendships. Shyness wasn't found to be related to number of online friends, or the number of friends that gamers interact with both online and offline, but it was only negatively related to the number of exclusively offline friends. However, the physiological component of shyness was found to be positively correlated with the number of online friends and online/offline friends in male gamers. While searching for sex differences, it was found that female gamers had escapism as a stronger playing motivation in comparison to male gamers. The number of online friends was the only correlate of the amount of playing time, which indicates a potential two-way relation of the number of online friends and the amount of playing time.