Playing With Friends -- The Importance of Social Play During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Cmentowski, Sebastian, Krüger, Jens
Format: Preprint
Published: 2020
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author Cmentowski, Sebastian
Krüger, Jens
author_facet Cmentowski, Sebastian
Krüger, Jens
contents In early 2020, the virus SARS-CoV-2 evolved into a new pandemic, forcing governments worldwide to establish social distancing measures. Consequently, people had to switch to online media, such as social networks or videotelephony, to keep in touch with friends and family. In this context, online games, combining entertainment with social interactions, also experienced a notable growth. In our work, we focused on the potential of games as a replacement for social contacts in the COVID-19 crisis. Our online survey results indicate that the value of games for social needs depends on individual gaming habits. Participants playing mostly multiplayer games increased their playtime and mentioned social play as a key motivator. Contrarily, non-players were not motivated to add games as communication channels. We deduce that such crises mainly catalyze existing gaming habits.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2011_00264
institution arXiv
publishDate 2020
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Playing With Friends -- The Importance of Social Play During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Cmentowski, Sebastian
Krüger, Jens
Human-Computer Interaction
In early 2020, the virus SARS-CoV-2 evolved into a new pandemic, forcing governments worldwide to establish social distancing measures. Consequently, people had to switch to online media, such as social networks or videotelephony, to keep in touch with friends and family. In this context, online games, combining entertainment with social interactions, also experienced a notable growth. In our work, we focused on the potential of games as a replacement for social contacts in the COVID-19 crisis. Our online survey results indicate that the value of games for social needs depends on individual gaming habits. Participants playing mostly multiplayer games increased their playtime and mentioned social play as a key motivator. Contrarily, non-players were not motivated to add games as communication channels. We deduce that such crises mainly catalyze existing gaming habits.
title Playing With Friends -- The Importance of Social Play During the COVID-19 Pandemic
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.00264