The Influence of Virtual Agents on Player Experience and Performance

This paper contributes a systematic research approach as well as findings of an empirical study conducted to investigate the effect of virtual agents on task performance and player experience in digital games. As virtual agents are supposed to evoke social effects similar to real humans under certain conditions, the basic social phenomenon social facilitation is examined in a testbed game that was specifically developed to enable systematical variation of single impact factors of social facilitation. Independent variables were the presence of a virtual agent (present vs. not present) and the output device (ordinary monitor vs. head-mounted display). Results indicate social inhibition effects, but only for players using a head-mounted display. Additional potential impact factors and future research directions are discussed.