Work-in-Progress CHI PLAY '20 EA, November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada Virtual Reality Genres Comparing Preferences in Immersive Experiences and Games Maxwell Foxman Alex P. Leith David Beyea School of Journalism and Media Studies Communication Communication Southern Illinois University University of Wisconsin University of Oregon Edwardsville Illinois USA Whitewater Wisconsin USA Eugene Oregon USA aleith@siue.edu beyead@uww.edu mfoxman@uoregon.edu Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen Rabindra Ratan Brian Klebig Wee Kim Wee School of Media & Information Communication Communication and Information Michigan State University Bethany Lutheran College Nanyang Technological East Lansing Michigan USA Mankato Minnesota USA University rar@msu.edu bklebig@blc.edu Jurong West Singapore chenhh@ntu.edu.sg ABSTRACT 1 Introduction Even though virtual reality (VR) shares features with video games, While virtual reality (VR) is inextricably linked to video games, it it offers a wider range of experiences. There is currently no seems to defy traditional game genres by offering new types of cohesive classification for commercial VR offerings. As a first step engagement, control, and transport that change user experience. to account for this deficiency, the work in progress considers the Our work in progress begins to address this by using Steam and relationship between game genres and users’ ratings and SteamSpy API data to analyze and compare users' ratings and downloads of VR experiences. We found Action, Shooter, and downloads across genres of VR and non-VR games. The findings Simulation to be the most frequently downloaded genres; Action can inform developers' marketing decisions based on demand, and Music/Rhythm the most highly rated; and Simulation and allow for more intelligently created and stylized titles, and Music/Rhythm to occur at a statistically higher rate in VR identify merchandising opportunities. The study also provides compared to non-VR. Finally, we learned that VR experiences are publishers information about attractive and appropriate genre less likely to receive positive ratings than 2D games. The findings labels (or tags) when they release content. Future research will can inform developers’ marketing decisions based on demand. update and define popular VR genres, and build new frameworks CCS CONCEPTS to systematically apprehend user experience and products. • Human-centered computing → Human computer 2 Related Works interaction (HCI); Interaction paradigms; Virtual Reality; While genres are important in defining games, relating them to KEYWORDS VR is complicated by a lack of standards and focus on distinct affordances over content. Virtual Reality; Game Genres; Video Games; Steam 2.1 Game Genres ACM Reference format: Maxwell Foxman, Alex P. Leith, David Beyea, Brian Klebig, Vivian Hsueh Genre, or the "style" or "type" [12] of a game, is an essential Hua Chen, and Rabindra Ratan. 2020. Virtual Reality Genres: Comparing classification system for the medium. Genre choice is linked to Preferences in Immersive Experiences and Games. In Extended Abstracts player personality/preference [13,22], predicts addiction [6], and of the 2020 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play enhances creative and cognitive abilities [5]. Similarly, "[v]ideo (CHI PLAY ‘20) November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada. ACM, New game genres provide a design lens through which developers can York, NY, USA, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3383668.3419881 analyze gameplay preferences and player experiences" [17:2265]. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or Despite this, there is no single rubric for game genres due to distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and insufficient industry criteria for identifying titles. Many games do the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this not conform to traditional genre typologies [30:773], and are work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author. CHI PLAY '20 EA, November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada instead compared to familiar predecessors: for instance, © 2020 Copyright is held by the owner/author(s). "Roguelike" references similar patterns from the classic game ACM ISBN 978-1-4503-7587-0/20/11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3383668.3419881 Rogue. It is particularly difficult to separate genres from gameplay: 237 Work-in-Progress CHI PLAY '20 EA, November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada a game may be classified as "Action/Adventure" if the player 3 Methods advances an avatar gradually through levels to confront a final Seeking answers, we analyzed content from the Steam game villain; but that same content will be defined as a "Shooter" if the market. player takes a first-person perspective. Ye [30] suggests this confusion stems from the tension between traditional genre 3.1 Data Collection conventions, interactive metaphors, game pace, and controllers, all of which influence player experience, but are "not clearly or Steam has become the central hub for PC games, especially VR, consistently defined" [12:176]. and houses the largest library compatible with a range of accessible HMDs. Using the Steam API, users are able to get a list Accordingly, numerous genre classification frameworks of of all games hosted on Steam. varying lengths exist [7,18,29], or genre tends to be integrated into broader design strategies to identify player preferences and We limited our query to the most popular experiences within experience (PX) [26,27], such as the Game Elements-Attribute Steam’s “VR Only” category. In order to facilitate clear Model [12]. The profusion of models underscores the need for comparisons, we excluded games with both VR and non-VR clarity among styles, features, and experiences of games generally. support, and will add this category in future work. We pulled ownership (download) estimates from SteamSpy’s third-party 2.2 VR Elements and Genre API. The popularity threshold for VR experiences was 50,000- 100,000 estimated ownership (N=141; approximately 3.25% of all This is magnified in VR because it shares fundamental VR Only experiences). The threshold for all games was 500,000- characteristics with video game play including narrativity, 1,000,000 estimated ownership (N=1217; approximately 3.31% of simulation, interactivity, and intelligence [24]. The diffusion of all non-VR games). Next, we employed Steam and SteamSpy API commercial headsets also occurred in a platformized environment to gather additional information like game title, app ID, which is "contingent" [8,20] upon multi-sided markets like Steam's categories, user tags, release dates, ownership, and user ratings. digital game store for distribution. Consequently, VR content is This data allowed for coding of each game's Steam Store page. linked to "how game mechanics work" [9:367] even though it may serve different ends, as is the case with social VR [14]. 3.2 Content Analysis Coding Procedure However, studies of VR design center on unique affordances of Coding was performed through data scraping programs and room-scale head-mounted displays (HMDs) [1,4]. Analyses human coders who can recognize program attributes scrapers emphasize attributes, such as presence [11], immersion [3], miss. The data scrapers identified "tags," typically single-word embodiment [2,16], transportation [10] and perspective-taking descriptions of games including genre, associated with the [15] over specific styles. Comparative work between games and programs. Three human coders adhered to categories derived VR focus on characteristics like levels of immersion, flow [21,25] from Lucas and Sherry [18] because they were developed from and presence [23]. previous research and industry standards [18:511]; provided a middle ground between unmanageably large/intricate and Thus, there is a gap between how genres are defined in VR small/broad counterparts; and provided clear genre descriptions. experiences and their effects on users. In this nascent industry, After initial review of the corpus, we modified the list by adding developers struggle to situate their work within already vague present genres from other classification systems, such as game categories. Further, companies cannot deduce what styles music/rhythm. The following genres resulted: Action, Adventure, and content are explicitly popular to VR. Recognizing the Card/Dice, Classic Board Games, Fantasy/RPG, Fighter, Flight, inconsistencies of genre classification systems, we aim to build a Music/Rhythm, Puzzle, Quiz/Trivia, Racing/Speed, Shooter, more inclusive framework that encompasses affordances, Simulation, Sports, Strategy, and Turn-Based Strategy. We chose mechanics, and key features of the medium for assessing VR to rely on human coders because they are better able to categorize content. games systematically and consistently. We plan to compare this approach to player-generated tags in future work. Because game genres are a familiar and widely used means for developers to market and classify VR titles, our analysis starts Three independent coders were trained on the coding protocols with one existing game genre classification to ask: for identifying content (e.g., Action: a game that relies on a player’s reflexes, coordination, or reaction time). Multiple genres RQ1: What traditional game genres are most common in Steam- could be assigned to each experience. A minimal acceptable provided VR experiences? threshold of α=.7 was established, which all variables met or RQ2: Are user ratings and downloads higher for certain traditional exceeded. Cohen’s Kappa was not used due to the highly skewed genres in VR experiences? nature of the data. RQ3: Do VR and non-VR experiences differ with respect to traditional game genre availability and user ratings? 238 Work-in-Progress CHI PLAY '20 EA, November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada 4 Preliminary Findings Strategy, and Turn-Based Strategy due to too few cases from these genres in our VR sample (which suggests they occur more 4.1 What traditional game genres are most frequently in non-VR content). common in Steam-provided VR experiences? 4.3.2 User Ratings. A linear regression was performed to examine differences in ratings between VR and non-VR experiences using The five most commonly featured genres in VR were Action (45%), the same ratings metric from RQ2. There was a significant effect Shooter (30%), Simulation (22%), Adventure (13%), and Puzzle (t(1334)=-03.13, p=.002), such that non-VR games (M=22.56, (12%). The median number of genres was 1 for VR-only SD=76.85) attained more positive ratings than VR experiences experiences (in contrast to 4 for non-VR games). (M=2.16, SD=9.02). 4.2 Are user ratings and downloads higher for Within non-VR games, a significant regression equation of genre certain traditional genres in VR on user rating was found (F(3, 1993)=8,09, p<.001). Strategy experiences? (t=3.21, p=.001), Sports (t=2.82, p<.005); and Shooter (t=2.35, We created a "ratings" variable by dividing the number of positive p=.019) games are more likely to have positive ratings. These (thumbs up) ratings by the total number of days the game had results contrast with earlier findings that within VR experiences, been published to control for the difference in the time a game Action and Music/Rhythm are most likely to receive positive was available to play and rate. ratings. A stepwise linear regression was calculated to examine the 5 Discussion connection between VR genres and the ratings variable. A In addition to charting the current VR landscape for researchers, significant regression equation was found (F(2, 136)=15.57, p<.001) our preliminary findings uncovered surprising insights for such that experiences with Action (t=2.37, p=.02) and industry developers and marketers. Music/Rhythm (t=4.78, p<.001) genres were more likely to have positive ratings than other genres. Since they did not meet Players more positively review certain genres in VR (i.e., Action required assumptions for linear regressions, Classic Board Games, and Music/Rhythm). This makes intuitive sense. Given that a Card/Dice, Fantasy/RPG, Quiz/Trivia, Racing/Speed, Sports, primary feature of VR is its depth of immersion, Action games Strategy, and Turn-Based Strategy could not be statistically where players find themselves in intense situations and analyzed in the VR condition. Linear regression requires the environments would be entertaining. Furthermore, movement is number of cases in a condition to be greater than the total number a contributing factor to such immersion, upon which of conditions being regressed (16, in this analysis). Music/Rhythm games capitalize. 4.3 Do VR and non-VR experiences differ with By contrast, genres like Strategy and Sports are relatively rare in respect to traditional game genre VR. While a Music/Rhythm game makes the most of player availability and user ratings? movements, VR hardware constrains the aggressive, complicated 4.3.1 Genre Availability. A series of chi-square tests of actions associated with Sports games. These genres also have independence were performed to examine the relative availability existing conventions in terms of player control and interface that of different genres in VR and non-VR experiences. Each test are difficult to translate. A player who could, on a console, press a examined an individual genre to see if it existed equally within button to perform a bicycle kick would find the same maneuver both modalities, or if one had a higher representation of that difficult (and dangerous) to execute while in an HMD. genre. We also found that some genres that require long periods of The genres that occur less frequently in VR than in non-VR gameplay (e.g., Adventure, Shooter) are less popular in VR than experiences are Action (χ^2(2, n=1336)=60.603, p<.001); non-VR. Player preferences for shorter experiences could be Adventure (χ^2(2, n=1336)=178.178, p<.001); Fighter (χ^2(2, linked to hardware discomfort, including heat, eye strain, physical n=1336)=67.488, p<.001); Shooter (χ^2(2, n=1336)=42.870, p<.001); fatigue, and simulator sickness. While Shooter games are and Fantasy/RPG (χ^2(2, N=1336)=81.815, p< .001). immersive given their first-person perspective, play in contemporary HMDs may still cause motion sickness. This pattern The genres that occur more frequently in VR than in non-VR could also relate to being "disconnected" from the natural experiences are Simulation (χ^2(2, n=1336)=15.070, p<.001) and environment for long periods of time, unlike a traditional video Music/Rhythm (χ^2(2, n=1336)=9.467, p=.002). Classic Board game. While promising, each possibility calls for follow-up Games (χ^2(2, n=1336)=2.262, p=.133) and Puzzle (χ^2(2, studies. n=1336)=3.802, p=.051) appear to occur more frequently in VR, but the difference is not statistically significant. Chi-square tests could Finally, although VR experiences were more harshly reviewed not be run on Dice, Flight, Quiz/Trivia, Racing/Speed, Sports, than non-VR in the data set, this may be because of the medium’s relative infancy: fewer available experiences are more frequently 239 Work-in-Progress CHI PLAY '20 EA, November 2–4, 2020, Virtual Event, Canada downloaded, but may be less sophisticated than non-VR games; so 6 Conclusions they are more harshly reviewed. This may also reflect a While affiliated with games and gaming, VR is maturing into a willingness to experiment with purchasing. Unlike video games, medium with unconventional features and styles as well as novel consumer VR preferences may still be forming. approaches to familiar genres. This work analyzed how players engage with the medium by first reviewing and testing the In total, our preliminary results suggest VR users tend to favor relationship between genre, games, and VR based on the most shorter experiences that maximize physical involvement (within popular genres currently available to users in Steam. We found reason). Knowing what styles attract and are enjoyed by players Action, Shooter, and Simulation experiences to be most common; can inform developers’ creative choices. Action and Music/Rhythm to be the most highly rated; and 5.1 Future Directions Simulation and Music/Rhythm to occur at a statistically higher rate in VR compared to non-VR; finally, we discovered that VR This research is a first step in defining the role genre plays in the experiences are less likely to receive positive ratings compared to consumption of VR content. As analyses of popular commercial 2D video games. Ultimately the study serves as an important start VR styles are rare, our findings provide valuable measurements by in discerning the types of VR content users gravitate toward, which developers can assess what genres do well in the which can benefit designers, industry, and players alike in future marketplace. However, this work in progress is still in its early production. stages: We did not include analysis of “VR Supported” products, which contain both VR and non-VR content, in part because The work underscores the value of utilizing genre in the appraisal differentiated rating information is difficult to ascertain. We plan of emerging media. Yet, when mapping how different styles to expand our analysis into this category, which could impact manifest in VR, we see the need for a more comprehensive creators who wonder if their games would find success in HMDs, assessment of genre that moves beyond content and considers as was the case with No Man’s Sky, which was successfully ported psychological and technical attributes and effects. After all, many to VR after years of trepidation by the publisher [19]. users may be using genre to help select their very first commercial VR experiences, and it is important that these categories actually Further, we acknowledge that traditional genres offer a limited reflect the reality of content they consume. perceptual filter to articulate how VR experiences differ. We will combine these findings with other factors, including presence, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS perspective-taking, and interactivity, in order to rethink and We would like to thank our research assistants: Ann Desrochers, develop a more comprehensive classification model. Technical Matthew Klein, and Lindsey Murrell. factors, including controls and hardware, also impact genre preference: a Shooter played in mobile VR is a vastly different REFERENCES experience compared to the latest commercial HMD and [1] Jeremy Bailenson. 2018. Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It controllers. Each element informs designer and player choices, Works, and What It Can Do. (1st. ed.) W. W. Norton & Company. New York, NY. along with the popularity of certain styles. [2] Jeremy N. Bailenson, Nick Yee, Jim Blascovich, Andrew C. Beall, Nicole Lundblad, and Michael Jin. 2008. 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