Cultural influences on play style

Abstract

In general, video game researchers do not differentiate between players' nationalities. Cultural theories, however, show that cultural differences concern numerous values, including values associated with interaction with media. We therefore ask the question whether there exist cross-cultural differences in play style. For our investigation we use a large sample database containing Battlefield 3 game statistics. Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory [1] was used to construct three play style categories in which players are most likely to exhibit cultural differences: competitiveness, cooperation, and tactical choices. Using ANOVA tests, we found clear differences between the play style of players of different nationalities in the competitiveness and cooperation categories. MANOVA tests showed that national culture accounts for 5.6% of variance in competitive, and 4.2% in cooperative play style. Pairwise comparisons showed that in particular German and Swedish players demonstrated cooperative behavior significantly more often than players from the United Kingdom and United States.