GAME DESIGN’S INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS IN CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Why players purchase goods based on the design of games Johann Young Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Date of submission: 6/4/2020 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor’s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus GAME DESIGN’S INFLUENCE ON PURCHASE MOTIVATIONS IN CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Why players purchase goods based on the design of games Johann Young Bachelor’s Thesis Instructor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Date of submission: 6/4/2020 Aalto University School of Business Bachelor’s Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus AALTO UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT OF SCHOOL OF BUSINESS BACHELOR’S THESIS Mikkeli Campus Author: Johann Young Title of thesis: Game Designs’ Influence on Purchase Motivations in Call of Duty: Warzone Date: 9 April 2021 Degree: Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration Supervisor: Miikka J. Lehtonen Objectives The main objectives of this study were to understand the elements of game design that affect the purchases of non-functional in-game content. An additional objective was to focus on the Games-as-a-service business model and how its structure influenced game design. Summary Games-as-a-service games have become increasingly popular within the video game industry, with one example of this being the battle royale game Call of Duty: Warzone. Research has been completed on various aspects of the industry, but not much research has been conducted on the design of games that utilize the Games-as-a-service model. Interviews based on Hamari’s (2015) research model were held to examine purchase influences in players. Results indicated that factors such as enjoyment of the core service, continuous use intentions of the core service, attitudes towards microtransactions, and subjective norms towards microtransactions all played a role when discussing game designs influence in purchase motivation. Conclusions Design elements utilized in how content is offered were the most significant factor in game design's influence on purchases, primarily through the creation of artificial scarcity and limited promotion of content. However, design elements, such as the design of the content itself was also considered to influence purchases. Key words: microtransactions, games-as-a-service, game design, virtual goods See: http://web.lib.aalto.fi/en/helevoc/pdf/ Language: English Grade: Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION: GAME DESIGN IN TRANSITION ..................................................... 1 1.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Problem ......................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 3 1.4 Research Objectives ..................................................................................................... 4 1.5 Definitions ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.6 Structure of Thesis ......................................................................................................... 5 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.2 Video Game Business Models .................................................................................... 6 2.3 Microtransactions ........................................................................................................ 10 2.4 Conceptual Framework .............................................................................................. 14 2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 15 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 18 3.2 Interview Design ........................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 20 3.4 Research Ethics ........................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 21 4. FINDINGS ............................................................................................................................ 23 4.1 Perceived enjoyment of the core service .............................................................. 24 4.2 Continuous use intentions of the core service .................................................... 27 4.3 Subjective norms towards microtransactions ..................................................... 29 4.4 Attitude towards microtransactions ....................................................................... 33 4.5 Synthesis of findings .................................................................................................. 36 4.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 39 5. DISCUSSION ...................................................................................................................... 42 5.1 Motivators for in-game purchases........................................................................... 42 5.2 Game designs influence on in-game purchases ................................................. 43 5.3 Influence of GaaS on in-game purchases ............................................................. 45 5.4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 45 6. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 48 6.1 Main Findings ................................................................................................................ 48 6.2 Implications for International Business ................................................................. 50 6.3 Limitations ..................................................................................................................... 50 6.4 Suggestions for further research ............................................................................. 51 Reference list ............................................................................................................................ 52 Appendices ................................................................................................................................ 57 1. INTRODUCTION: GAME DESIGN IN TRANSITION 1.1 Background Since 2002, the video game industry has doubled the revenue of both the music and film industry combined, reaching total revenue of 159.3 Billion dollars in 2020 (LPE, 2019, Newzoo, 2020). For the longest time, publishers in the industry relied on the more traditional business model of pay-to-play, where players would pay a set amount to gain access to the full game (Marchand and Thurau, 2013). The video game industry has begun to focus more on monetization, with new business models replacing the traditional pay-to-play model. How the design of games that utilize these business models motivates players to purchase in-game content needs to be researched. While the more standard business model of pay-to-play is still used, there has been a significant shift towards free-to-play and games-as-a-service. While these models allow players to access their games for free, various in-game purchases are available for players to buy. These business models have been predominantly successful in the mobile gaming market as most of the games in the top 300 apps in Apple's App Store utilize a free-to-play model (Chua et al., 2019). However, while mobile gaming is where the models found their initial success, they have also implemented them in AAA games. The ethics of the purchases offered in these business models have been put into question by researchers such as Heimo et al. (2016). However, some argue that they are offered for players with less time to play (Nieslsen, 2018), while others find them unethical for players who do not buy them (Hamari et al., 2017). Nonetheless, the implementation of free-to- play and GaaS models has been successful and continues to appear within the industry. In-game purchases, better known as microtransactions, can be classified into two categories: functional or non-functional (Chua et al., 2019). Functional microtransactions are items that directly affect the gameplay of a game by either speeding up progression within the game or increasing a player's attributes (ibid). Non-functional items, better known as cosmetic items, do not affect how the game is played and are simply there to change a visual aspect of the game, be it the player's avatar or their environment (ibid). 1 For this thesis, there will be a focus on non-functional