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After reading our MadWorld post yesterday, a Nintenjo reader pointed me to a recent study showing that “contrary to popular belief, violence does not make video games more enjoyable”. In fact, they found that in some cases violence actually “detracted from the enjoyment reported by players”.

Through two online surveys and four experimental studies, the researchers showed that people stayed glued to games mainly for the feelings of challenge and autonomy they experience while playing. Both seasoned video gamers and novices preferred games where they could conquer obstacles, feel effective, and have lots of choices about their strategies and actions.

Scott Rigby, president of Immersyve and a co-investigator in the study, said the findings should be of practical help to the game development industry. “Much of the debate about game violence has pitted the assumed commercial value of violence against social concern about the harm it may cause,” explained Rigby. “Our study shows that the violence may not be the real value component, freeing developers to design away from violence while at the same time broadening their market.”

Thanks to ScotchTape for the news tip!

Tags: Blood, Gore, MadWorld, Psychology, Violence