Contextual Autonomy Support in Video Game Play: A Grounded Theory

Autonomy experience constitutes a core part of the intrinsic motivation of playing games. While research has explored how autonomy is afforded by a game's design, little is known about the role of the social context of play. Particularly, engaging with serious games or gamified applications is often obligatory, which may thwart autonomy. To tease out contextual factors that affect autonomy, we conducted a qualitative interview study that compared gameplay experience in leisure and work contexts. We found that leisure contexts, particularly solitary play, support autonomy through a time and space shielded from outer demands, the license to (dis)engage with and configure the situation to fit one's spontaneous interests, and a lack of social and material consequence. Thwarted autonomy occurs both in leisure and work contexts when players' spontaneous interests mismatch socially demanded gameplay. We discuss implications for entertainment and applied gaming.