Player Profiling with Fallout 3

Abstract

In previous research we concluded that a personality profile, based on the Five Factor Model, can be constructed from observations of a player’s behavior in a module that we designed for Neverwinter Nights (Lankveld et al. 2011a). In the present research, we investigate whether we can do the same thing in an actual modern commercial video game, in this case the game Fallout 3. We stored automatic observations on 36 participants who played the introductory stages of Fallout 3. We then correlated these observations with the participants’ personality profiles, expressed by values for five personality traits as measured by the standard NEO-FFI questionnaire. Our analysis shows correlations between all five personality traits and the game observations. These results validate and generalize the results from our previous research (Lankveld et al. 2011a). We may conclude that Fallout 3, and by extension other modern video games, allows players to express their personality, and can therefore be used to create personality profiles.