A cross-genre study of online gaming: player demographics, motivation for play, and social interactions among players

Ghuman, D. and Griffiths, M.D. ORCID: 0000-0001-8880-6524, 2012. A cross-genre study of online gaming: player demographics, motivation for play, and social interactions among players. International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning, 2 (1), pp. 13-29. ISSN 2155-7136

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Abstract

One key limitation with the contemporary online gaming research literature is that much of the published research has tended to examine only one genre of games (i.e., Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). Three relatively little studied online games are First Person Shooter (FPS) Games, Role Play Games (RPG) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) Games. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine player behaviour and characteristics in these three different online gaming genres. More specifically, the study examined the differences between the three different game genres in terms of: (i) the demographic profile, (ii) the social interactions of players including the number and quality of friends, and how gaming related to real life friendship, and (iii) motivations to play games. The sample comprised 353 self-selected players (156 who played FPS, 119 who played RPG and 78 who played RTS). The RPG genre had the highest percentage of female players. The number of hours played per week varied significantly between the genres. RPG players played significantly longer hours than FPS or RTS players. In relation to playing motivation, achievement levels were highest for the FPS genre with RPG genre having the lowest achievement levels RPG players had the highest immersion levels. RTS players were significantly less likely to report having made friends than players of the other two genres.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	International Journal of Cyber Behavior, Psychology and Learning
Creators:	Ghuman, D. and Griffiths, M.D.
Publisher:	IGI Global
Date:	2012
Volume:	2
Number:	1
ISSN:	2155-7136
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 10:08
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2017 13:20
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/8347

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