Playing video games together with others: Differences in gaming with family, friends and strangers

This empirical study investigates social digital gaming habits through a national survey of Swedes aged 12–100. The enquiry concerns patterns of gaming and compares playing with different co-players in order to map out this growing practice among the general population. Logistic regression models are used to analyse the data. Results show support for the importance of separating different social gaming contexts according to the relational status of co-players: whom people play games with – family, friends or strangers – affects how players engage with games. Social gamers were younger, had higher achieved education, were more dedicated and spent more time on gaming. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, male gamers are more social than female gamers. Results show how digital gaming adapts to life rather than the other way around. Finally, digital gaming is shown to be situated in a complex weave of interactions and structures that go over and beyond the gaming itself.

"Results showed that of Swedes engaged in digital games, over half gamed with others. Higher achieved education was significantly correlated with increased propensity for social gaming in general...indicating social differences between gamers..... rural gamers were more likely to game with family members than urban gamers.... As expected, dedication to games predicted social gaming, as did increased time spent on games.... While seeing gaming as a social activity was related to increased gaming with friends, this was not so for gaming with strangers.... That social gamers were younger was true for all social gaming except family gaming, which was not correlated with age, and gaming with strangers, where an interaction effect was discovered between gender and age.... Analyses showed, against expectations, that men are more prone than women to game with others.... The main conclusion of this study is that both the practices and meanings of digital gaming are dependent on the relational status of game companions: whom people play digital games with, be they family, friends or strangers, clearly affects how players engage with games.... This study shows that we need to separate different social gaming contexts not only according to number of participants, game plat- forms or whether on- or offline, also according to the relational status of the co-players. Digital gaming, like other human activities, is situated in a complex weave of interactions and structures that go over and beyond the activity itself.... Finally, this study demonstrates how digital gaming adapts to life rather than the other way around." (Authors, 270-274)