The next time a loved one brandishes a virtual shotgun in their favorite video game, take heart. That look of glee, says a new study fresh from the joint research lab of Immersyve and the University of Rochester, likely stems from the healthy pleasure of mastering a challenge rather than from a disturbing craving for carnage.   
            Research published online today in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin shows that, contrary to popular belief, violence does not make video games more enjoyable. The study by our research team found that for many people, gore actually detracts from a game’s “fun factor,” decreasing players’ interest and desire to purchase a game. When designing the next generation of video games, added the authors, developers should remember: blood does not help the bottom line.
             “For the vast majority of players, even those who regularly play and enjoy violent games, violence was not a plus,” explained Andrew Przybylski, a lead author of the study. “Violent content was only preferred by a small subgroup of people that generally report being more aggressive,” added Przybylski, however, even these hostile players did not report increased pleasure when playing more gruesome games.
            Through two online surveys and four experimental studies, we found that people stayed glued to games mainly for the feelings of challenge and autonomy they experience while playing. Both seasoned video gamers and novices preferred games where they could conquer obstacles, feel effective, and have lots of choices about their strategies and actions.
            These elements, said coauthor Richard Ryan, represent “the core reasons that people find games so entertaining and compelling. Conflict and war are a common and powerful context for providing these experiences, but it is the need satisfaction in the gameplay that matters more than the violent content itself.”
            Scott Rigby, president of Immersyve and a co-investigator in the study, said the findings should be of practical help to the game development industry. “Much of the debate about game violence has pitted the assumed commercial value of violence against social concern about the harm it may cause,” explained Rigby. “Our study shows that the violence may not be the real value component, freeing developers to design away from violence while at the same time broadening their market.”
            To assess players’ experiences on a wide variety of games, the authors conducted two survey studies involving 2,670 frequent video game players. Participants rated their current favorite games based on statements like “When moving through the game world, I feel as if I am actually there” and “I would buy a sequel to this game.” The surveys focused on players’ needs satisfaction, immersion, and enjoyment, based on a psychometric model developed by Immersyve called the Player Experience of Need Satisfaction (PENS). Respondents were 89 percent male and between 18 and 39 years of old.
            Four additional experimental studies involving more than  300 undergraduates allowed the investigators to study the effects of violence under controlled conditions.  In three of the tests, researchers modified the video programs to create violent or non-violent formats of the same game. One study used the commercially available game Half-Life 2 and assigned subjects to play either a bloody battle against computer-controlled adversaries or a low violence alternative, in which the robots were tagged and teleported serenely back to base. Another study using House of the Dead III varied the gore level from no blood to realistic wounds and graphic violence. A fourth experimental study took a closer look at subjects’ aggressive tendencies. Using a 29-item scale, including such statement as “Given enough provocation, I may hit another person” and “I sometimes feel like a powder keg ready to explode,” the study measured participants’ hostility before having them play the bloodier version of House of the Dead III.         
            Across all of the studies and both surveys, added violent content added little and in some cases detracted from the enjoyment reported by players. Violent content was preferred, though not enjoyed more, by a small subgroup of people who scored high in aggression traits.
            “Video games,” concluded the authors, “are enjoyable, immersive, and motivating insofar as they offer opportunities for psychological need satisfaction, specifically experiences of competence and autonomy, to which violent content per se is largely unrelated.”
                This same research team has been studying the factors that motivate people to play games of all types, both as casual players or intense long-term fans.  “Initially, many games are perceived as being fun,” Rigby says. “Much of our work is focused on understanding when games reach to deeper levels of satisfaction that often sustain engagement over time, and to identify both the healthy and unhealthy aspects of that play.” 

As part of its ongoing research, Immersyve has just completed an eight month logitudinal study examining the ability of its model to predict sustained subscriptions and continued play of MMO’s. Our findings show that our P.E.N.S. (”Player Experience of Need Satisfaction”) measures, based on a next-generation playtesting model, significantly predicted sustained subscriptions over an eight month period, despite the fact that player’s self-report of enjoying a game did not predict sustained play. The implications for this result are that application of the Immersyve model can significantly decrease MMO churn and increase the ROI on investment in customer acquisition.

Several hundred MMO players were initially surveyed in March as part of Immersyve’s ongoing research and development, and all players were invited to participate in a November follow-up. Of particular interest was how our P.E.N.S. measures compared to more simplistic playtesting and “focus group” protocols in predicting long-term satisfaction with a project, and continued subscription. Traditional measurement of player experience, including assessing the player’s experience of fun, enjoyment, and attention, have little or no relationship with continued subscriptions in November. By comparison, because the Immersyve PENS assesses deeper motivational elements of the player experience, it significantly predicted in March continued play eight months later.

In addition, the Immersyve approach significantly predicted a wide range of commercially relevant variables, including a customer’s willingness to pay more for the game, recommend the game to others, and desire to buy more games from the developer. By implementing the Immersyve solution during the development process, developers can quickly and accurately assess whether their choices are likely to sustain their customer’s interest in their project, with tremendous implications for the bottom line of any subscription game or application.

Both in the media and in casual conversations, video games are frequently associated with ideas of violence, addiction, and unproductive “zoning out.” New research from Immersyve, Inc, in collaboration with the University of Rochester, suggests that there may be more to the strong attraction of games than that. “We find that people who are really drawn to video games stay there because it satisfies some very basic psychological needs. Certain games provide opportunities to feel a sense of achievement, freedom and even connection with other players” says Dr. Richard Ryan, one of the investigators. Four studies, published this month in the academic journal Motivation and Emotion, show that players are most attracted to games that give them positive experiences that are akin to “real world” challenges, rather than merely a shallow sense of fun. In fact, the research showed that a video game, insofar as it allows one to experience need fulfillment, can even promote short-term well being in some players. Ryan adds, however, that “not all video games are created equal” in this ability to satisfy more basic psychological needs.

Dr. Scott Rigby, President of Immersyve and co-investigator sees potential value for the model across many areas in the world of gaming. “There is still more work to do, but our data suggests that when games meet the underlying needs in our model, they not only predict better psychological outcomes for players, but better commercial success for games.”

“So what’s good for players,” Rigby added, “may well be good for the industry too.”

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In two different studies, Immersyve has identified several specific aspects of gameplay experience that are strongly related to players expressing a desire to buy more games from the developer. Interestingly, simply finding the game “enjoyable” or “fun” is not sufficient for players to express this desire — the gameplay itself must offer them something more. More than 2000 gamers participated in the studies, which were conducted over the course of 2006.

“What we think is so cool about this finding is that we are mapping what makes the gameplay more meaningful for players, which in turn is building loyalty and relationship with developers,” said Scott Rigby, President of Immersyve. “Because meaningful gameplay experiences and increased sales are both achieved, our methodology supports innovation and creativity in the development group, but also improves the bottom line. That’s exactly the kind of service we want to bring to the industry.”

The overall participation in the studies allowed Immersyve to look at players of all kinds of games, including MMO’s, FPS, Adventure, and many others. Virtually every genre showed the same positive relationship between Immersyve’s playtesting metrics and player desire to buy more from the developer.

“This is a tool both the suits and the developers can love,” added Rigby. “It informs developers very precisely about the player experience but does not try to control the creative process — and in the end it delivers to both the players and the company.”