An Empirical Model A Unique Data Set Actionable Insights
Our motivation model (next slide) Over 400,000 gamers worldwide Our data links game titles/franchises was developed via established have participated in our Gamer with demographic and motivation psychometric techniques, such as Motivation Profile, providing data variables, allowing us to analyze the factor analysis—a statistical on their motivations, demographics, motivations of game audiences to method that identifies how variables and their favorite games. produce data-driven insights. cluster together.
Our Expertise in Gamer Motivation Research For over a decade, Nick Yee and Nic Ducheneaut have been studying the motivations and behavior of gamers. They have over 40 peer- reviewed papers on gaming and virtual worlds. Nick Yee’s paper on the motivations of online gamers has been cited over 1,400 times. 2 Action Social Mastery Achievement Immersion Creativity “Boom!” “Let’s Play Together” “Let Me Think” “I Want More” “Once Upon a Time” “What If?”
Destruction Competition Challenge Completion Fantasy Design Guns. Explosives. Duels. Matches. Practice. High Get All Collectibles. Being someone else, Expression. Chaos. Mayhem. High on Ranking. Difficulty. Challenges. Complete All Missions. somewhere else. Customization.
Excitement Community Strategy Power Story Discovery Fast-Paced. Action. Being on Team. Thinking Ahead. Powerful Character. Elaborate plots. Explore. Tinker. Surprises. Thrills. Chatting. Interacting. Making Decisions. Powerful Equipment. Interesting characters. Experiment.
3 Action Social Mastery Achievement Immersion Creativity “Boom!” “Let’s Play” “Let Me Think” “I Want More” “Once Upon a Time” “What If?”
Destruction Competition Challenge Completion Fantasy Design
Excitement Community Strategy Power Story Discovery
Action-Social is about immediacy and Mastery-Achievement is about cool- Immersion-Creativity is about play in the adrenaline rushes. Gamers who score high headed, long-term gaming. It seeks out broadest sense of the world. It seeks out on these motivations want to be excited, gradual and cumulative mechanics, expansive and expressive play styles. It is whether by the game itself or by watching cities/farms grow over time. curious and always testing the boundaries interacting with other players. of the game. An apt adjective for this cluster might be An apt adjective for this cluster might be “TALL”. An apt adjective for this cluster might be “BRIGHT”. “WIDE”. 4
The motivation factors in our model are spectrums. In the same way that Introverts don’t have “less personality” than Extraverts, scoring low on a motivation doesn’t necessarily mean these gamers don’t have equally strong preferences The following charts provide additional details on each motivation: • What does scoring low on each motivation mean? • What are the anchors on both ends of each motivation spectrum? • What are examples of games that have high and low scores for each motivation?
Low High
Games Game Preferences Preferences Examples Motivation Examples
Independence Teamwork Lego Harry Potter, Destiny, Battlefield, Single-player. Grouping up. Chatting. Hatoful Boyfriend, Community Final Fantasy XIV, Soloable quests. Social interaction. Farm Heroes Saga Shared Experience Rainbow Six Siege, Be in full control. Collaboration.
Non-Adversarial League of Legends, High Conflict Myst, Gone Home, Non-competitive. DotA 2, Adversarial. Dragon Age II, Competition No rankings/duels Call of Duty, Arenas. Duels. Matches. Lego Dimensions Social Comparison against human players. CS:GO Leaderboards. Rankings.
Calm Thrilling Civilization, Myst, CS:GO, Turn-based. Can be paused. Fast-paced. Action-based. Master of Orion II, Excitement Call of Duty, Relaxed. Predictable. Surprising. Europa Universalis Novelty Super Smash Bros. Melee Low visual stimulation. Adrenaline rush.
Enduring Chaotic Professor Layton, Myst, Halo, Idyllic. Serene. Evergreen. Guns. Explosions. Mayhem. Animal Crossing, Destruction Call of Duty, Destiny 2, No weapons/gore. Carnage. Gore. Harvest Moon Entropy Battlefield Typically G/PG content. Destructible environments. Low High
Games Game Preferences Preferences Examples Motivation Examples
Self-Driven Task-Oriented RimWorld, Victoria II, Dragon Nest, Aura Kingdom, Decide what to do myself. Complete tasks/quests. Kerbal Space Program, Completion Lego Dimensions, Sandbox/open gameplay. Collect stars/trophies and Cities: Skylines Source of Goals Final Fantasy Self-directed goals. collectibles.
Flat Progression Progression-Based Night in the Woods, World of Warcraft, Fully-developed characters Start weak and grind. The Longest Journey, Ico, Power League of Legends, Diablo III, from the start. Level up character/stats. 80 Days, Her Story Growth Summoners War Static. Level playing field. Upgrade weapons/spells.
Spontaneous Contemplative The Sims, StarCraft II, Crusader Kings II, Reactive gameplay. Think. Plan. Complex decisions. Disney Emoji Blitz, Strategy Europa Universalis IV, Low cognitive load. Long-term strategies. Mario Kart Wii, Covet Fashion Decision Complexity Stellaris, Eve Online Short time horizons. Consider consequences.
Easy Fun Skill-Based Oxenfree, Stardew Valley, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Quick to learn. Low skill barrier. Steep learning curve. The Longest Journey, Challenge DotA, osu!, Straightforward mechanics. Complex moves/rules. Animal Crossing Skill Improvement Street Fighter V No skill-based gates. Difficult missions, bosses. Low High
Games Game Preferences Preferences Examples Motivation Examples
Generic/Abstract Deep Lore Counter-Strike, Street Fighter, Fantasy Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Generic or abstract setting. Rich world lore/history. Candy Crush Saga, Star Wars: KOTOR, 2D/retro graphics. Suspending Compelling alternate world. World of Tanks Fallout Minimal world-building/lore. Disbelief Visually immersive world.
Open-Ended Scripted Drama Factorio, SimCity, Mass Effect, No overarching narrative. Story Elaborate narrative arc. Transport Tycoon, Dragon Age, Basic/stock NPCs. Web of Large cast of characters with Quake III Arena Life is Strange, Persona 4 Blank canvas to build on. Human Drama motive/personality.
Practical Curious FIFA, The Elder Scrolls, Riven, Fully-exposed rulesets. Explore world. Find hidden Call of Duty, Discovery Fallout, Minimal unknown variables and secrets/treasures. Experiment Mahjong, Scrabble The Unknowns Legend of Zelda possible interactions. with objects. Tinker.
Curated Customizable Braid, Spelunky, Guild Wars 2, The Sims, Fixed, but often highly stylized Design Express individuality. Super Meat Boy, The Elder Scrolls Online, avatar. None or few Expressing Customize avatar/house. Super Mario Galaxy 2 Animal Crossing customization opportunities. Individuality Lots of skins/accessories.