For whom does a game update? Players' status-contingent gameplay on online games before and after an update

摘要

In an online game, multiple players virtually play the game together and are ranked based on their in-game performance through competition. Online games update constantly and continuously (i.e., a modification in the game content after its release), changing the game every time. This research examines the effect that these game updates have on individual gameplay. We compared 9342 players' daily gameplay for a month before and after updates across eighteen updates over seven online games. There are two novel findings. First, middle-ranked players tend to play the game more than high and low-ranked players before an update. Second, contrary to the widespread notion that game updates trigger players to increase their gameplay, online game updates only increase the gameplay of high and low-ranked players. Conclusively, high and low-ranked players tend to play the game more than the middle-ranked players after an update.