Investigating Trading Mechanisms as a Driver for User Experience in Racing Games

TL;DR

This study examines how trading mechanisms in a racing game influence user experience, finding that simple trading systems may not significantly change engagement but warrant further investigation.

Contribution

It introduces a novel experimental setup to evaluate the impact of in-game trading systems on user experience in racing games.

Findings

Trading system did not significantly alter overall user experience

User engagement was unaffected by trading mechanisms in the tested setup

Further research needed on diverse trading approaches

Abstract

The exchange of digital goods has become a significant aspect of the global economy, with digital products offering inexpensive reproduction and distribution. In-game objects, a type of digital currency, have emerged as tradable commodities within gaming ecosystems. Despite extensive research on various aspects of digital goods, little attention has been given to the impact of in-game trading mechanisms on user experience. This paper presents a study aimed at evaluating the influence of trading systems on user experience in a racing game context. We developed a simple racing game featuring an in-game market for buying and selling car variants and conducted an A/B study comparing user experiences between groups utilizing the trading system and those unlocking cars through race completion. Our findings suggest that while the trading system did not significantly alter the overall user experience, further exploration of diverse trading approaches may offer insights into their impact on user engagement.