Summary: A new study found that playing video games can improve players’ moods within 15 minutes of gameplay. Researchers analyzed data from over 39 countries, showing that nearly three-quarters of players experienced a positive mood shift during gameplay.
The study focused on natural gameplay environments rather than lab settings, providing real-world insights into how video games influence mood. These findings suggest that gaming can serve as a short-term recovery activity, helping people manage daily stress.
Key Facts:
- Players’ moods increased within the first 15 minutes of gameplay.
- Around 72% of players experienced a mood uplift during play.
- The study used real-world data, avoiding artificial lab settings.
Source: Oxford University
Playing video games can be good for your mood, according to a new international study from researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the University of Oxford.
The study analysed data from players in 39 countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Germany and found that PWS players’ moods rapidly increased during gameplay. Players consistently reported a higher mood after the first fifteen minutes of the play session compared to the start of each session.
The research team from the Oxford Internet Institute carried out the study to understand more about the short-term effects of playing video games.
Lead author Assistant Professor Matti Vuorre, Tilburg University and Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute said:
‘At present short-term changes in video game players’ moods are poorly understood. Gameplay research frequently relies on artificial stimuli, with games created or modified by academic researchers, typically played in a lab environment rather than a natural context. Instead, we wanted to know how real play in natural contexts might predict player mood on short timescales.’
The researchers collaborated with PWS’s developer, FuturLab, to develop a research edition of the game that recorded gameplay events, game status records, participant demographics and responses to psychological survey items.
This latest analysis is based on a dataset the team previously published in the journal Scientific Data last year.
Commenting on the findings, second author Nick Ballou, Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford said, ‘By investigating player experiences during natural play of a popular and commercially available game, we found strong evidence for a small positive change in mood over the course of a play session.
‘Our current study corroborates what qualitative research and reports from video game players around the world have long suggested: People feel good playing video games.’
The researchers found that the average player’s mood increased by approximately 0.034 units (on a 0-1 scale), from the beginning of the session to during play and the bulk of the improvement occurs for the average player after 15 minutes of gameplay. This change is comparable with changes seen in other leisure activities such as reading, shopping, or listening to music.
They also looked at differences in mood uplift between the population of similar PWS players. The Oxford team statistically modelled between-person differences in mood shifts in the population of PWS players. They found that nearly three-quarters of players (72.1%) were likely to experience an uplift in their mood during PWS play.
Unlike other studies in this field, the Oxford study is the first of its kind to examine changes in mood during play sessions in a minute-by-minute resolution.
The research edition was nearly identical to the main game, with the addition of in-game pop-ups asking players to report their mood, delivered by a newly created character called ‘The Researchers’ making them part of the game lore, ensuring minimal disruption to the player experience.
Senior author Professor Andrew Przybylski at the Oxford Internet Institute said:
‘We believe our findings are most consistent with the notion that gaming – for most people – is a recovery activity that helps to manage day-to-day stresses and mood fluctuations, without necessarily having substantial long-term impacts.
‘The fact that we studied only one game – and one that is not likely representative of today’s most commonly played games – suggests caution in generalizing from our findings to other games.
‘Future work should consider the use of randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effect of playing PowerWash Simulator or other games compared to other leisure activities or therapeutic interventions.
Ultimately better understanding the multiverse of play, including temporal patterns, social experiences, in-game behaviours and events, players’ personalities, its antecedents and consequences warrants continued research efforts coordinated across and beyond academia.’
About this gaming and mood research news
Author: Matti Vuorre
Source: Oxford University
Contact: Matti Vuorre – Oxford University
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
“Affective Uplift During Video Game Play: A Naturalistic Case Study” by Matti Vuorre et al. Games: Research and Practice
Abstract
Affective Uplift During Video Game Play: A Naturalistic Case Study
Do video games affect players’ well-being?
In this case study, we examined 162,325 intensive longitudinal in-game mood reports from 67,328 play sessions of 8,695 players of the popular game PowerWash Simulator.
We compared players’ moods at the beginning of play sessions with their moods during play and found that the average player reported 0.034 (0.032, 0.036) visual analog scale (VAS; 0-1) units greater mood during than at the beginning of play sessions.
Moreover, we predict that 72.1% (70.8%, 73.5%) of similar players experience this affective uplift during play, and that the bulk of it happens during the first 15 minutes of play.
We do not know whether these results indicate causal effects or to what extent they generalize to other games or player populations.
Yet, these results based on in-game subjective reports from players of a popular commercially available game suggest good external validity and as such offer a promising glimpse of the scientific value of transparent industry–academia collaborations in understanding the psychological roles of popular digital entertainment.
