Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study

Max V. Birk; Maximilian A. Friehs; Regan L. Mandryk

doi:10.1145/3116595.3116608

Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study

Max V. Birk, Maximilian A. Friehs, Regan L. Mandryk

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

55 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We tend to treat the 18-55 demographic of gamers as a monolithic and homogenous group, even though the older ones witnessed the entire rise of the videogame and the younger ones were born into a world with MMORPGs. We present a cross-sectional study of 2747 crowdsourced players aged 18-55 and conduct linear regressions of age on several measures of play habits, preferences, and play experiences. Our results show a consistent pattern that with increasing age, preferences, play motive, play style, identification as a gamer, and player experience shift away from a focus on performance and towards a focus on completion, choice, and enjoyment. We situate our results in developmental psychology, which suggests that as we age, we exhibit an increased focus on goals that prioritize emotional regulation and relationships and less on the acquisitions of new skills. Our work provides new insights into the large and core demographic of gamers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	CHI PLAY 2017 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages	157-170
Number of pages	14
ISBN (Electronic)	978-1-4503-4898-0
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3116595.3116608
Publication status	Published - 15 Oct 2017
Externally published	Yes
Event	4th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2017 - Pakhuis de Zwijger (main conference) ; Marineterrein (workshops and courses), Amsterdam, Netherlands Duration: 15 Oct 2017 → 18 Oct 2017 Conference number: 4 https://chiplay.acm.org/2017

Conference

Conference	4th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2017
Abbreviated title	CHI PlAY 2017
Country/Territory	Netherlands
City	Amsterdam
Period	15/10/17 → 18/10/17
Internet address	https://chiplay.acm.org/2017

Keywords

Age
Motivations
Player experience
Player styles

Access to Document

10.1145/3116595.3116608

Cite this

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title = "Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study",

abstract = "We tend to treat the 18-55 demographic of gamers as a monolithic and homogenous group, even though the older ones witnessed the entire rise of the videogame and the younger ones were born into a world with MMORPGs. We present a cross-sectional study of 2747 crowdsourced players aged 18-55 and conduct linear regressions of age on several measures of play habits, preferences, and play experiences. Our results show a consistent pattern that with increasing age, preferences, play motive, play style, identification as a gamer, and player experience shift away from a focus on performance and towards a focus on completion, choice, and enjoyment. We situate our results in developmental psychology, which suggests that as we age, we exhibit an increased focus on goals that prioritize emotional regulation and relationships and less on the acquisitions of new skills. Our work provides new insights into the large and core demographic of gamers.",

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author = "Birk, {Max V.} and Friehs, {Maximilian A.} and Mandryk, {Regan L.}",

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publisher = "Association for Computing Machinery, Inc",

address = "United States",

note = "4th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2017, CHI PlAY 2017 ; Conference date: 15-10-2017 Through 18-10-2017",

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Birk, MV, Friehs, MA & Mandryk, RL 2017, Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study. in CHI PLAY 2017 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, New York, pp. 157-170, 4th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2017, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 15/10/17. https://doi.org/10.1145/3116595.3116608

Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study. / Birk, Max V.; Friehs, Maximilian A.; Mandryk, Regan L.
CHI PLAY 2017 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play. New York: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, 2017. p. 157-170.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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AU - Friehs, Maximilian A.

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AB - We tend to treat the 18-55 demographic of gamers as a monolithic and homogenous group, even though the older ones witnessed the entire rise of the videogame and the younger ones were born into a world with MMORPGs. We present a cross-sectional study of 2747 crowdsourced players aged 18-55 and conduct linear regressions of age on several measures of play habits, preferences, and play experiences. Our results show a consistent pattern that with increasing age, preferences, play motive, play style, identification as a gamer, and player experience shift away from a focus on performance and towards a focus on completion, choice, and enjoyment. We situate our results in developmental psychology, which suggests that as we age, we exhibit an increased focus on goals that prioritize emotional regulation and relationships and less on the acquisitions of new skills. Our work provides new insights into the large and core demographic of gamers.

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PB - Association for Computing Machinery, Inc

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ER -

Age-based preferences and player experience: a crowdsourced cross-sectional study

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Keywords

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