Customized experience Digital games possibilities beyond their mechanics

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.4652316015

• Palavras-chave: Experiência do usuário; customização de jogos; design; jogos digitais

• Keywords: user experience; game customization; design; digital games.

• Abstract:

  Since the advent of the internet there has been a shift in the games market towards publishing and selling globally, as well as the rise of online games. But besides the games themselves, this market sells experiences to the users, not just as a gamer, but also as a customizer or even a “designer” of its characters. This paper focuses on the hypothesis that games can afford interaction providing experiences beyond its mechanism and design, using customization possibilities available to players. To discuss this subject, it was used an online survey and a theoretical framework developed in the literature of design, media and psychology. The survey investigated the practice of customization and how common it became, focusing on how users obtain customizations for games and how they enhance the game experience. The findings showed that customization is a topical area in games and that players enjoy it as a part of the game. This suggests that customizations can be used as a tool to improve the gamer sensation of attachment with the game universe.