On the environment-destructive probabilistic trends: a perceptual and behavioral study on video game players

TL;DR

This study investigates how a popular life-simulation video game influences players' environmental perceptions and behaviors, revealing a tendency towards environmental exploitation despite awareness, and highlighting design implications for promoting pro-environmental actions.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the probabilistic trends in players' environmental behaviors influenced by game design, using a novel dataset and Bayesian analysis.

Findings

Players tend to exploit in-game environments despite environmental awareness.

Game design simplification may hinder engagement in pro-environmental activities.

Probabilistic trends suggest potential for designing games that promote environmental responsibility.

Abstract

Currently, gaming is the world's favorite form of entertainment. Various studies have shown how games impact players' perceptions and behaviors, prompting opportunities for purposes beyond entertainment. This study uses Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH), a real-time life-simulation game, as a unique case study of how video games can affect humans' environmental perceptions. A dataset of 584 observations from a survey of ACNH players and the Hamiltonian MCMC technique has enabled us to explore the relationship between in-game behaviors and perceptions. The findings indicate a probabilistic trend towards exploiting the in-game environment despite players' perceptions, suggesting that the simplification of commercial game design may overlook opportunities to engage players in pro-environmental activities.