How players across gender and age experience Pokémon Go?

• Published in: Universal access in the information society Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 799 - 812
• Main Authors: Malik, Aqdas, Hiekkanen, Kari, Hussain, Zaheer, Hamari, Juho, Johri, Aditya
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2020
• Subjects: Computer Communication Networks; Computer Science; Computers and Society; Information Storage and Retrieval; Information Systems Applications (incl.Internet); IT in Business; Long Paper; User Interfaces and Human Computer Interaction; Pokémon Go; Free-to-play; Freemium; Augmented reality games (ARGs); Location-based games (LBGs); Online games; Virtual reality (VR); Uses and gratifications (U&G)
• ISSN: 1615-5289; 1615-5297
• DOI: 10.1007/s10209-019-00694-7

The purpose of this study is to provide insights into player experiences and motivations in Pokémon Go, a relatively new phenomenon of location-based augmented reality games. With the increasing usage and adoption of various forms of digital games worldwide, investigating the motivations for playing games has become crucial not only for researchers but for game developers, designers, and policy makers. Using an online survey ( N  = 1190), the study explores the motivational, usage, and privacy concerns variations among age and gender groups of Pokémon Go players. Most of the players, who are likely to be casual gamers, are persuaded toward the game due to nostalgic association and word of mouth. Females play Pokémon Go to fulfill physical exploration and enjoyment gratifications. On the other hand, males seek to accomplish social interactivity, achievement, coolness, and nostalgia gratifications. Compared to females, males are more concerned about the privacy aspects associated with the game. With regard to age, younger players display strong connotation with most of the studied gratifications and the intensity drops significantly with an increase in age. With the increasing use of online and mobile games worldwide among all cohorts of society, the study sets the way for a deeper analysis of motivation factors with respect to age and gender. Understanding motivations for play can provide researchers with the analytic tools to gain insight into the preferences for and effects of game play for different kinds of users.