In this session, we are excited to welcome our visiting PhD students, Tianyi Zhangshao, along with Leyan Zheng, to share their research projects.

Seminar 3

27 January 2025 (Tuesday), 3:30p.m-5:30p.m

Divided Gaming Cultures and Game Legitimacy: Boundary-Making Among Chinese Users

Tianyi Zhangshao, PhD student

What are the most insulting criticisms of videogames? For Consalvo and Paul (2019), the most pointed accusation is that games are “not real.” Grounded in the North American context, they tried to uncover the secret behind “real game”: what types of games were considered legitimate and what made them real? By analysing the discourse around these topics, they argued that a game’s legitimacy is related to 1) game developers’ pedigree, 2) the game content itself, and 3) the payment structure. Their study is intriguing because, rather than addressing the ontology of games, it shifts attention to how games are discursively constructed. Similar “real game” debates can also be found in mainland China, where a regulatory draft targeting overspending in games has sparked server debate. The draft, titled Measures for the Management of Online Games and proposed by the National Press and Publication Administration (hereinafter, the draft), aimed to spending-driven designs such as daily logins, repetitive in-game purchases, and unreasonable odds or number of draws in random reward systems (NPPA, 2023). Its announcement triggered a sharp debate among players, and “wiped out nearly $80 billion (approx. 632 billion HKD) in market value” from China’s leading game companies (Ye, 2023). The draft has since been withdrawn and is under revision. This raises an interesting question: while the debate revealed divided groups with different preferred gaming cultures, can the three “real-game” factors also help explain similar discussions in other cultural contexts? In this presentation, we aimed to explore how users discuss the draft and how these discussions serve as a “convening force” (Barnett, 2008) that prisms the broader discussion of Chinese gaming culture. By thematically analysing 1,017 comments from player forums, we identified four areas of split attitudes among Chinese players: 1) the conception of modern games, 2) China’s video game industry, 3) China’s game communities, and 4) China’s regulatory attempt. Leveraging Gieryn’s (1983) boundary-work theory, we argue that the controversy and the divided perspectives stem from players’ differing ideologies and the boundaries they establish in negotiating legitimate forms of gaming, with the core debate centering on acceptable monetisation. In the end, we call for more research on those monetisation designs mentioned in the draft before rushing to a hard ban.

An Overview of Gambling-Related Psychological Features of Loot Boxes in Top-Grossing US Mobile Games

Leyan Zheng, PhD student

Loot boxes are randomised in-game monetisation mechanisms sharing structural and psychological similarities with gambling. Although an existing framework structured according to the design features of loot boxes was in place, in this study, we developed a new framework that systematically linked these features with gambling psychology.

This talk will present a theory-grounded framework that identifies 23 gambling-related psychological features of loot boxes, organised into six domains: monetary manipulation and investment, psychological manipulation, sensory gambling cues, fear-of-missing-out mechanics, reward structure and probability systems, and social dynamics. We then applied this framework to analyse the first hour of gameplay from the 50 top-grossing US mobile games. Findings reveal that monetary manipulation, psychological manipulation, and fear-of-missing-out mechanics are most prevalent, with common features including VIP schemes, limited-time discounts, variable-ratio reinforcement, and pity systems. Social dynamics features showed the lowest prevalence.

I hope to invite discussion on how the current game monetisation design incorporates psychological mechanisms that blur the boundary between play and gambling.

We highly recommend PhD and Master's students and faculty members to join the informative and inspiring academic seminar to gain creativity and opportunity. We are looking forward to seeing you at our research colloquium.