Design of a taxonomy for the psychological study of the structural characteristics of video games

Abstract

The structural characteristics (SC) of video games are responsible for inducing or maintaining gaming behaviour regardless of the physiological, psychological, or socioeconomic status of a given player. Studies of video games have tended to focus on genre, but the rapid evolution of the industry has led to increased ambiguity in the categorisation and classification of these genres. Therefore, the study of SC may be a more accurate way of analysing video games. The objective of the study is to design an SC taxonomy that responds to current video games and that contributes to: (a) identifying which SCs affect players’ behaviour; and (b) understanding why eSports have so many practitioners. After reviewing previous taxonomies, interviewing expert video gamers, and interviewing a video game programmer, a taxonomy of 53 SCs grouped into four factors was constructed: social, manipulation and control, narrative and identity and reward and punishment. In future research, this taxonomy will allow for empirical study of the relationships between the psychological characteristics of players and the SCs of their preferred video games. It will also shed light on the psychological variables that influence the performance of professional esports teams in relation to SC, and why the number of players and fans continues to rise.