Who purchases and why? Explaining Motivations for In-game Purchasing in the Online Survival Game Fortnite

Jie Cai, Donghee Yvette Wohn, Guo Freeman

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

As a popular and free-to-play multiplayer online survival game, Fortnite not only offers novel game mechanics but also allows players to purchase special in-game items using real money. Based on an online survey of 215 Fortnite players, this paper investigates in-game behaviors that can be used to explain who is more likely to spend money in Fortnite. Specifically, players’ motivations to spend real-life money were categorized; how the amount of spending was correlated with different motivations and behavioral factors was also analyzed. In contrast to prior virtual goods literature that associates in-game purchasing with social and task motivations, we found that motivations to make in-game purchases in Fortnite were less about assimilating with others and more about looking visually unique from others. We conclude by discussing how the survival genre of battle royale and other game affordances may explain these findings.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCHI PLAY 2019 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages391-396
Number of pages6
ISBN (Electronic)9781450366885
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 17 2019
Event6th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2019 - Barcelona, Spain
Duration: Oct 22 2019Oct 25 2019

Publication series

NameCHI PLAY 2019 - Proceedings of the Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play

Conference

Conference6th ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play, CHI PLAY 2019
Country/TerritorySpain
CityBarcelona
Period10/22/1910/25/19

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Human-Computer Interaction

Keywords

  • Fortnite
  • Free-to-play
  • In-game purchasing
  • Individuality
  • Self-expression
  • Social pressure
  • Virtual goods

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