Study: Violence doesn’t affect enjoyment of a game
Researchers at the University of Rochester have surveyed 2,670 frequent game players, as well and over 300 undergraduates, and found that violent content has no real effect on the appeal of a game. Using Half-Life 2 and a dev kit, the researchers made two scenarios for the participants: a “violent” one where the player had to kill things with a shotgun, and a “non-violent” on where psychic powers were used to do the same thing, although it was “more like a game of tag” than a deathmatch.
Guess what? The groups had no real difference; there’s very little to suggest that increasing violence increases enjoyment. The lead researched adds that this should be noted by game developers: making a game more violent won’t necessarily make it more fun.
Of course, violence is still fun- if, for example, Left 4 Dead’s zombies simply disappeared as opposed to tearing apart in a bloody mess, I’m sure there would be plenty of complaints. Likewise, the VATS messiness in Fallout 3 certainly adds something to the game. Still, the researchers have it on the nose- good game first, violence second.
