Steam Platform Research Articles

Illegal video game loot boxes with transferable content on steam: a longitudinal study on their presence and non-compliance with and non-enforcement of gambling law

ABSTRACT Loot boxes are gambling-like mechanics in video games that can be bought with real-world money to obtain random rewards. Regulators in many countries have considered whether different loot box implementations fall within the existing legal definition of ‘gambling.’ Most countries’ regulators say that only loot boxes (i) players spent real-world money to purchase and (ii) provide randomized content (iii) that possesses real-world monetary value (e.g. be transferable between players) legally constitute ‘gambling.’ A comprehensive review of Valve’s Steam platform for PC games identified 35 games, including some of the most popular games with hundreds of thousands of concurrent players, that implement paid loot boxes with transferable content worth real-world money. These would likely fall afoul of current gambling laws in many countries. Contrary to previous statements published by gambling regulators promising enforcement, consumers, policymakers, and other stakeholders should be aware of the existence and popularity of these presumably illegal loot boxes and how gambling law has not actually been enforced against them. The situation remained unchanged one year later. This longitudinal perspective demonstrates a continued state of noncompliance by game companies and non-enforcement by gambling regulators that leaves consumers unprotected and at risk of encountering illegal content and experiencing harm.

Analysis of asymmetric VR games – Steam platform case study

The paper presents research on the topic of asymmetric virtual reality (VR) games. These types of applications are in the development phase when it comes to their presence on the market, range, amount, and popularity. This research discusses the original topic, as it is still a niche compared to video games and even to VR applications on the market. The article presents a quantitative analysis of asymmetric VR applications available in the international market. One of the popular gaming platforms, Steam, was chosen as a subject for the case study in this investigation. The objectives of the conducted research include, first, a quantitative analysis and presentation of up-to-date data on asymmetric VR games available on Steam; then, providing and systematizing new knowledge about the asymmetric VR term, identifying the nature of asymmetric VR games, and finally, recognition of the current situation and the latest trends within the concept of asymmetric VR. Based on the results, it was concluded that the dominating genre of asymmetric VR was action (49.4 %), indie (46.0 %) and casual (45.4 %), followed by simulation (37.4 %). Most of the games were available in English (96.6 %), and far behind English, there were French and German languages (30.5 %), and then Spanish – Spain (28.2 %), Russian (27 %), Japanese (25.9 %), simplified Chinese (25.3 %) and others. The analysis of user re-views on Steam that asymmetric VR receive favorable feedback, with ‘very positive’ as the most prevalent label, representing 35.0 % of analyzed games. Notably, only four games achieved the ‘overwhelmingly positive’ label, including ‘Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes’ in the basic version and in the version with soundtrack (97 % positive reviews), ‘Rock Life: The Rock Simulator’ (95 % positive reviews), and ‘IronWolf VR’ (95 % positive reviews). Last but not least, the paper describes the features of the analyzed asymmetric VR application. The results of the research make a contribution to the field and provide new knowledge on the following: the new subarea of VR, the nature of asymmetric VR (author's concept), human behavior and interaction in asymmetric virtual gameplay, and communication in asymmetric VR.

What Are the Points of Concern for Players about VR Games: An Empirical Study based on User Reviews in Different Languages

In recent years, the boom of Virtual Reality (VR) technology has signaled fruitful applications in various fields, such as education, industry, animation, entertainment, game, and so forth. The global VR games market is projected to grow to $53.44 billion in 2028 at a CAGR of 31.4% in the 2021-2028 period. Therefore, what players care about most about VR games is a topic worthy of research. In this paper, we conduct an in-depth study of 1362 VR games and 484070 reviews on the Steam platform. Unlike other literature focusing only on monolingual reviews (such as English), we apply the topic clustering model (BERTopic) to comprehensively analyze multilingual user reviews, including English, Simplified Chinese, and French. We find that the three features people praise the most are the music, the gaming experience, and the gameplay. Meanwhile, gamers’ most common complaints are bug issues, insufficient content, and excessive pricing.

The effect of players' ability to resist monsters on immersion and fear in survival horror games

Horror survival games, as a crucial segment of the video game industry, are highly regrded for their ability to evoke excitement, suspense and the challenge of overcoming obstacles and fears through wit and skill. This study delves into the impact of players' ability to confront monsters in horror survival games on their level of immersion and fear, and how these two psychological states mutually enhance the gaming experience. This research applies Python for natural language processing analyses, including sentiment analysis, keyword frequency analysis, Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, and K-Means clustering to uncover the main trends in player feedback, which is based on 5,000 user comments scraped from the Steam platform on two famous horror games, "Resident Evil 7" and "Outlast 2." Additionally, data on players' personal experiences of fear and immersion in the games are collected through surveys. The results show that the sensation of fear and successfully confronting monsters significantly enhances players' immersion of being completely engaged in the game, highlighting the importance of balancing challenge and player's ability to make choices in game design. This study provides valuable insights into understanding the psychological dynamics of players in horror survival games, guiding game designers and developers on how to create more engaging and satisfying gaming experiences that meet players' requirements.

Analytics of motivational factors of educational video games: LDA topic modeling and the 6 C’s learning motivation model

AbstractThis research studies the motivational factors used in educational video games through the lens of 6 C’s learning motivation model with text mining of the players’ reviews and comments. This research seeks to offer insight for game producers and educational institutions to investigate the effectiveness of these motivators for increasing player motivations and thus improving the quality of learning. Sentiment analysis and LDA topic modeling were used to analyze reviews of five selected video games on the Steam platform. The 6 C’s Learning Motivation Model guided text mining to analyze the motivational factors used in the games and how they contribute to user learning. The effectiveness of these motivational factors was discussed in conjunction with categorized text mining. Results show that the major motivation factors of educational games are ‘construction meaning’, ‘challenge’, and ‘control’ in the 6 C’s learning motivation model. Among them, users focus on whether the game’s content meets their interests and the construction of the educational meaning of the game. The advantage of control, a high degree of motivational factor in video games, may turn out to be a factor that leads to user churning when the game is not interesting or attractive enough. Previous educational game research seldom involved a large sample size for generalizable findings. In addition, this research extends the application of the 6 C’s learning motivation model to the digital educational gaming arena, providing a novel player-centric perspective. Based on the results, we provide recommendations and design considerations for educational game developers to enhance players’ experience and motivations.

Pengaruh Electronic Word of Mouth dan Perceived Ease of Use Terhadap Keputusan Pembelian Video Game pada Platform Steam

This study aims to examine the influence of Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEU) on the purchase decision of video games on the Steam platform. The population of this study is all consumers on the Steam platform in Mataram City, while the sample of this study is 100 consumers on the Steam platform using purposive sampling. This type of research is an associative research. Data processing in this study uses SPSS 25.0 for Windows, where validity tests, reliability tests, classical assumption tests, path analysis tests, significance tests (t tests), and coefficient of determination tests (R2). Based on the results of the analysis, all variables have a partial effect, where eWOM has an effect on the purchase decision, and PEU has an effect on the purchase decision. Based on these results, it is recommended that Steam improve the quality of eWOM and PEU, resulting in an increase in the purchase decision of video games on the Steam platform

Digital Surrealism: Video Game Space

The concept of virtual reality (VR), perceived as a copy of physical reality, restricts both the creators and users of the space, leaving no room for potential surreal experiences. The main motivation for conducting the research on virtual surreal space is to open up creative/productive spatial possibilities for discussion from a thought perspective that goes beyond this definition. Although there are various approaches to digital space in the literature, these studies mostly rely on computational methods. In contrast, this study aims to explore space from the perspective of "digital surrealism" which is ignored in spatial studies, through the computer-based gaming experience. Scholars writing about architecture and surrealism have argued that, unlike other forms of fine art, architecture was never an integral part of surrealism. Against this perspective of the digital game experience, the study aims to question whether it is possible to interpret the space with a surreal perspective and to investigate whether the space can approach surrealist thought with the digital game experience fed by computational methods that support the concepts of 'autonomy' and 'ubiquity'. The main goal of the study is to explore the relations between surrealism and architecture and the spatial potential of these relations through the experiences of the players. The surrealist spatial potential of digital space experience is explored in Superliminal (2019), a puzzle game that transforms the experience into allegories of dreams, free-thinking and multiple opportunities. Data analysis performed on the STEAM platform and the First Manifesto of Surrealism (1924), in which surrealism came into existence as a movement, were analyzed with Python software. The experimental group's thoughts and comments expressed on the STEAM platform were analyzed. Preliminary results of the study are presented with the "regression tree" method. Using the Python programming language, analyses are prosuded to discuss game spaces from a lens of surrealism perspective.

Experimental and numerical study on wet steam flow metering overreading characteristics in venturi tube

The precise measurement of wet-steam flow is of great importance in various industrial systems, including nuclear reactors, oil and gas transportation, and cogeneration systems. However, the measurement accuracy of wet-steam flow can be affected by overreading (OR) when using venturi meters. This paper presents a systematic numerical simulation using the DPM model and an experimental study on the characteristics of overreading in wet-steam flow metering. The experiments are carried out on a two-phase flow liquid and steam platform. Firstly, the OR characteristics of a venturi structure with fixed dimensions (a throttling ratio of 0.6, a divergence angle of 15°, and a venturi diameter of 20 mm) are quantitatively analyzed at different flow rates (0.14-0.32 kg/s) and qualities (ranging from 0.14 to 0.90). It is found that the Lockhart-Martinelli parameter (XLM) plays a more significant role than the gas Froude number (Frg) in determining the overreading (OR) characteristics of a venturi under a given temperature, pressure, and venturi structure. Secondly, a venturi overreading prediction model based on XLM is proposed, and its ability to predict overreading for larger mass flow rates and venturi diameters is verified by numerical simulation data. As evaluated through numerical simulation data, the proposed model’s maximum relative error and average deviation are below 15% and 10%, respectively. This study provides valuable insights into developing an overreading model for industrial applications under large flow and venturi diameter conditions.

Analisis Cyber Fraud Pada Platform Jual Beli Game Online

The purpose of this study is to examine the reasons why people become victims of internet fraud through the Steam game trading platform and to discuss the modes used by the perpetrators. The three main informants of this research are victims of online fraud through the Steam game trading platform. Apart from that, it also seeks the opinions of experts about this case of online fraud. These results are expected to be able to provide deeper insights into cybercrime cases on the Steam platform and the strategies used by online fraudsters when using the Steam platform. In addition, the results are also expected to raise government awareness to take better measures to combat online fraud in the future. In addition, this research can serve as a basis for creating policies that protect the public from the threat of online fraud.

Length and sentiment analysis of reviews about top-level video game genres on the steam platform

During game development, a common uncertainty revolves around the emotional reactions players might exhibit when experiencing newly released games. Understanding emotions and experiences of video game players is complex. As a first step, players can share their experiences of video games by writing reviews. By investigating these reviews, the emotions, experiences, concerns, and opinions of players can be understood. The goal of this study is to provide a deeper insight for video game developers to understand the players' emotional reactions regarding the top-level genres. Besides, as subgoals, it can be observed whether a connection exists between word numbers and review type (positive/negative); whether there is a difference between the type of emotions in the case of different genres; or whether the emotional valence changes during writing a review. In this paper, overall 35, 983, 481 reviews of 11 top-level video game genres are studied using natural language processing methods with the NRC Emotion Lexicon in the statistical program package R. The results show that people write negative reviews earlier than positive ones and no correlation exists between the time at review and their word number. A connection can also be observed between word numbers and whether a review is positive or negative: the median review length is 40 words in case of negative reviews, while it is 19 words in case of positive ones. Regarding emotions, the emotional valence as well as sentiments’ number and percentage differ between the top-level genres. Each has its unique emotional valence and evokes various emotions.

Games That Let Go: Thriving in a Decentralized Future

In the early years of video games – arcade and home console – a given player could reasonably play every video game of note released in year and still have time for other hobbies. In 2022,10,963 games were released on the Steam platform alone. The scale of video games that enter the market in a given year now radically outstrip the ability of organized, monolithic gaming media to keep up with them. This “viewpoint” essay addresses how content creators can approach the decentralization of gaming culture through the lens of identity and authenticity, while reviewing incoming technologies that support this transition. Communication protocols for trustworthy digital certification, AI-assisted content creation tools, cloud technologies, and a transition from content moderation to user-centered governance – all will play a part in the coming transition to collective sense-making of these now highly complex game markets. Finally, the essay considers new audiences that will support a greater diversity of perspectives in independent game companies who can directly reach and engage players who share their specific experiences and interests.

When Do You Enter? Entrepreneurial Firms’ Entry Timing and Product Performance in the Digital Platform Market

The digital platform market has evolved into a critical location for firms to engage in innovation and entrepreneurship. However, there is no clear answer to the question of when entrepreneurial firms should enter the digital platform market in order to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. A balanced panel and an individual fixed effect model were built using monthly product data from game developers on the Steam platform. Furthermore, in accordance with first-mover advantage theory, this study empirically investigated the impact of entry timing on product performance of entrepreneurial firms in the digital platform market, as well as the moderating effect of product updates. The results show that the impact of entrepreneurial firms’ entry timing on product performance in the digital platform market has a U-shaped relationship, which is moderated by product updates. These findings not only have implications for entrepreneurs looking to compete in the digital platform market, but also contribute to the sustainable development of the digital platform ecosystem.

Application of Meta-Gaming Concept to the Publishing Platform: Analysis of the Steam Games Platform

The digital marketplace has rapidly grown, transitioning the market of video games from physical localized experiences to more networked, expanded, virtual spaces. With a highly competitive business market, platform governance policy allows for the emergence of rapidly growing publishing platforms for digital video games such as the Steam platform. This study demonstrated the importance of the meta-gaming of a platform based on the Steam platform; 18,658 Steam-listed games were acquired and analyzed from the Steam Store, Steam Spy, and Steam achievement databases. A detailed analysis was conducted where key research questions were formulated concerning the game information. This study found that digital badging (i.e., achievements) increases players’ engagement with the publishing platform with good auxiliary data (such as types, rating, releases, and prices). Based on such findings, an opportunity for a new business model is envisioned.

STEAM Dijital Oyun Platformunda Bulunan Eğitici İçerikli Dijital Oyunların Elektrik-Elektronik Mühendisliği Öğretim Müfredatına Entegrasyonu İçin Öneriler

Bu makalede eğitici içeriğe sahip dijital video oyunları ele alınmış olup Elektrik-Elektronik Mühendisliğine entegrasyonu için STEM (Bilim, Teknoloji, Mühendislik, Matematik) felsefesi içinde bazı değerlendirilmeler yapılmıştır. STEM kavramına daha sonradan sanat kavramı da eklenerek genişletilen STEAM (Bilim, Teknoloji, Mühendislik, Sanat, Matematik) felsefesiyle aynı ismi taşıyan STEAM dijital oyun dağıtım platform 30.000’i geçen sayıda oyun sunmaktadır. Bu platform ayrıca en fazla eğitici içerikli dijital video oyunu sunan platform olarak dikkat çekmektedir. Eğitici içeriğe sahip dijital oyunlar öğrencilerin derse daha fazla katılımını sağlayarak motivasyonun arttırılmasına, alan yeterliliğine ve takım çalışmasına olumlu katkı sunmaktadır. Eğitici içerikli oyunların belirlenmesi için STEAM oyun platformu içinde 100’den fazla oyun değerlendirmeye alınmış ve eğitici içeriğe sahip olanlar belirlenmiştir. Örnek olarak seçilen bazı oyunlar için incelemeler sunulduktan sonra en fazla indirilme ve olumlu yorum alma durumlarına göre değerlendirilmiştir. Literatürde seçilen eğitici içerikli oyunlar için bir sınıflandırma yapılmadığı için öneride bulunulmuştur. Yapılan incelemeler sonunda belirtilen oyunların Elektrik-Elektronik Mühendisliği bölümü müfredatına eklenebileceği ancak dikkate alınması gereken eksiklikler bulunduğu belirtilmiş ve öneriler sunulmuştur.

Virtual Reality Applications Market Analysis—On the Example of Steam Digital Platform

This paper presents research on the topic of virtual reality (VR) applications. It conducts a quantitative analysis of virtual reality applications available in the international market using the example of a digital platform, which was the Steam platform. The study presents and analyzes data on the number of applications in the selected categories, such as genres, types of headsets, and language. The research also includes the analysis of the top-rated VR applications, their reviews, and their features, recognized based on the tags describing them. Additionally, the article provides and systematizes new knowledge about the VR applications environment. Based on the results, it was concluded that the most numerous group of VR applications was action applications, and they account for more than half of all VR apps (51.22%). Following this, there were casual games (40.78%) and then simulation VR apps (37.35%). Referring to the results of the top-rated VR applications (‘overwhelmingly positive’ status on Steam), there were only two apps with a result of 98% (the highest rated) positive feedback: Half-Life: Alyx, the action and adventure app, which is a shooter described as zombie horror, and Walkabout Mini Golf VR, a casual and minimalist sport application. When it comes to the analysis of the tags of the top-rated VR applications, the most repeated tags, despite the ‘VR’ tag, included ‘first-person’ and ‘singleplayer’ (occurred in the descriptions of 68% of the applications).

Política a la que jugamos. Cultura, videojuegos y ludificción política en la plataforma Steam

Esta investigación parte de la reconocida influencia de los medios de comunicación en la esfera y el discurso político, así como de la popularidad de la plataforma Steam en la distribución de videojuegos para ordenador. De este modo, se propone un análisis de los rasgos del discurso de las fichas de los juegos de contenido político en este medio de distribución de contenidos. La selección de la muestra parte de una serie de palabras clave (Politics, Political y Political Sim) para identificar un conjunto representativo de juegos (n=64) que desarrollan algún aspecto de la política contemporánea (representaciones, ideologías o modelos de gobierno). Para ello, se combina el análisis de contenido cuantitativo y cualitativo de los paratextos de estos juegos (concretamente, los contenidos presentes en la ficha de cada uno de ellos). La exploración de estos contenidos destaca una lectura de la actividad política de corte pragmático y normativo, influido por su contexto de producción y ciertos vectores ideológicos del escenario contemporáneo como la ideología neoliberal.

Improving serious games by crowdsourcing feedback from the STEAM online gaming community

The inclusion of game-based learning in tertiary institutions is increasing as educators seek ways to enhance student engagement and motivation. During the development process for gaming resources, educators need feedback to ensure a quality learning experience. In many cases this feedback is generally received from students at the end of the subject or course and is often regulated centrally. Another way of garnering feedback and capturing player analytics could be to capitalize on the millions of global gamers. A game developed for use in a Health Sciences and Medicine program, The King's Request: Physiology and Anatomy Revision Game, was made freely available on the Steam platform. Over 16,000 Steam users engaged with the game over 12 months, with 150 providing written reviews. In contrast, a cohort of 100 first-year health science and medical students were requested to review the game after playing in class, with only 17 providing written feedback. In reviewing feedback, similarities were found between the groups, such as where both Steam community players and in-class students requested more questions and a longer game. However, the Steam community highlighted several unique aspects which could be used to improve the game for learning, such as a refined implementation of the incentive system. As the online gaming community is far larger than students enrolled in any tertiary subject, its expansive feedback can be used to accelerate the design and refinement of serious games. This wealth of feedback could provide unique insights for educators wishing to improve the provision of games in education and the overall student learning experience.

Popularity of Video Games and Collective Memory.

Describing the permanence of cultural objects is an important step in understanding societal trends. A relatively novel cultural object is the video game, which is an interactive media, that is, the player is an active contributor to the overall experience. This article aims to investigate video game permanence in collective memory using their popularity as a proxy, employing data based on the Steam platform from July 2012 to December 2020. The objectives include characterizing the database; studying the growth of players, games, and game categories; providing a model for the relative popularity distribution; and applying this model in three strata, global, major categories, and among categories. We detected linear growth trends in the number of players and the number of categories, and an exponential trend in the number of games released. Furthermore, we verified that lognormal distributions, emerging from multiplicative processes, provide a first approximation for the popularity in all strata. In addition, we proposed an improvement via Box–Cox transformations with similar parameters (from ( CI: , ) to ( CI: , 0)). We were able to justify this improved model by interpreting the magnitude of each Box–Cox parameter as a measure of memory effects.

Gaming (with) Affect and Trauma: An Introduction

Gaming (with) Affect and Trauma: An Introduction

The steam platform economy: From retail to player-driven economies

In this article, I analyse the Steam platform as a configuration of several market contexts. I argue that Valve, the owner of Steam, maintains a classical retail market catering to large game publishers, while the emphasis of Valve’s own game titles is in alternative market contexts based on player-driven economies. I first discuss Steam as a distinct type of platform economy due to its roots in player-driven game economies. I then introduce the notion of ‘markets as fields’ as my analytical framework. Based on this framework, I describe three different contexts of economic transaction: the Steam Game Store, the Steam Community Workshop and the Steam Community Market. I analyse how the approximately 46,500 game titles published on the platform are distributed across these contexts and how these games can be ranked with regard to current player numbers, and discuss Valve’s position as combined platform owner, game developer and game publisher.