The Impact of Game Design and Monetisation Strategies on Player Engagement in Online Games

Author

Dr. Venkateswara Rao Podile, K. Mahalakshmi, Guduri Nagaveni


Abstract

 Free-to-play titles cost nothing to install, so whatever a developer earns arrives after the download, and only if players stay long enough for some of them to start paying. The present study asks two linked questions. How strongly are game design and monetisation strategies related to how engaged players say they are, and do those relationships look different for experienced and inexperienced players? A structured questionnaire was completed online by 240 adult gamers. Three five-item Likert scales captured engagement, game design and monetisation, and all three proved reliable (Cronbach's alpha 0.866 to 0.878). The hypotheses were tested with multiple linear regression, chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA. Game design was the stronger of the two predictors of engagement (β = 0.48, p < 0.001), although monetisation also contributed (β = 0.26, p < 0.001), and the two together explained just over a third of the spread in engagement scores (R² = 0.363). More experienced respondents reported greater engagement (F = 6.40, p < 0.001) and were likelier to have bought something inside a game (χ² = 12.54, p = 0.006). Experience, on the other hand, left both relationships unchanged in strength. The results point to the quality of play, and not pressure to purchase, as the surer route to engagement, and suggest that monetisation helps only when players regard it as fair.



Keywords

Game Design; Monetisation; Free-To-Play Games; Player Engagement; In-App Purchases; Loot Boxes; Gaming Experience



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References


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