An Empirical Analysis of Video Game Play and Addiction Patterns
Stuart School of Business research presentation by: Assistant Professor of Business Analytics and Strategy Bruno Castello-Branco
An Empirical Analysis of Video Game Play and Addiction Patterns
- Assistant Professor of Business Analytics and Strategy Bruno Castello-Branco
Abstract:
Video games have evolved from a niche pastime for tech enthusiasts to a form of digital entertainment enjoyed by billions of people around the world. This huge popularity has sparked concerns over their addictive potential, especially considering their appeal to the younger population. We leverage behavioral data from a leading video game distribution platform to derive novel insights on video game addiction and associated behaviors.
We first show evidence of addiction in an aggregate, platform-level analysis encompassing thousands of players and hundreds of games, which persists even after a series of robustness checks. We also investigate player heterogeneity with an individual-level hierarchical Bayes approach, which also allows us to estimate the prevalence of addiction as affecting 6.81% of users on this platform. The rich granularity of our data also allows us to link addiction to individual behavior, and we find it to be associated with games whose mechanics and structure are sophisticated—involving, for example, resource management, crafting of virtual objects, and vast virtual worlds that allow for exploration and non-linear experiences. Consistent with prior research, we also find that Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are disproportionally chosen by users whose playing patterns indicate addiction. We also find that addicted gamers tend to be more engaged with the platform, spending more time playing and buying more games more often. Lastly, we implement a novel proof-of-concept early warning system to identify potential addiction based on usage data covering only two weeks.
Our findings provide platforms and developers with guidance to identify at‑risk users using only consumption data, offer policymakers and consumers empirical benchmarks, and inform researchers of empirical regularities that can motivate the development of new theories of digital addiction.
All ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ faculty, students, and staff are invited to attend.
The Friday Research Presentations series showcases ongoing academic research projects conducted by Stuart School of Business faculty and students, as well as guest presentations by ÐÓ°ÉÂÛ̳ colleagues, business professionals, and faculty from other leading business schools.