Player Experience and Enjoyment: A Preliminary Examination of Differences in Video Game Genre

Abstract

Introduction Player experience is the interaction between individual qualities and game attributes. It is becoming a popular topic to understand why individuals are interested in different video games. The current literature offers a range of different scales that measure similar player experience factors but often lack published validity analysis. The Player Experience Index is an empirically validated measure based on the means-end theory. The current study used this measure to analyse player experience factors and enjoyment among single-player shooter, single-player role-playing, massively multiplayer online shooter, and massively multiplayer online role-playing video games. Methods Analyses were based on a sample of 145 participants who completed an online survey. Results Results indicated that player experience factors were related to enjoyment, with differing results based on video game genre. It was also found that greater levels of enjoyment were reported by participants who preferred single-player mode of play compared to massively multiplayer online play mode, and participants who preferred single-player role-playing games indicated greater levels of enjoyment than the other three groups. Discussion While there was an uneven and small sample size for each video game category, the findings of this exploratory study highlight that further research is warranted. Future research should consider analysing the player experience for currently available and marketed video games to better understand how player experience influences enjoyment in the rapidly evolving gaming industry and its role in gaming design.