Immersive worlds: Well-being in the (sometimes) blurred boundaries and realities of gaming

Published: Posted on

Person holding a video game controller

By Dr Daniel Wheatley, University of Birmingham; Dr Emma J Breeze, University of Birmingham; Helen Greetham, University of Birmingham; and Mikayla Sinead, Bridge Network Group

The singer Raye recently said in an interview that gaming is her secret to escaping life. It appears she’s not the only one. Gaming is a massive worldwide industry employing tens of thousands of people and incorporating a whole range of different gaming forms from video games to board and tabletop miniatures games, types of gambling, sports, and more. The video gaming industry alone has a greater annual revenue than the film and music industry together, estimated by Fortune at almost $200bn in 2022, and an extensive reach totalling 1,472 million users.

The reasons so many of us use our time to play games and their well-being effects remain hotly debated. Academic, industry and wider media contributions highlight a mix of potential physical and mental health effects that differ considerably depending on the form of gaming. However, much existing academic research on video gaming focuses on adolescents only, and the relative impacts of playing games appear at least partly linked to individual and socio-economic factors driving gaming levels.

On 24 October the University of Birmingham hosted an ESRC Festival of Social Science event, Immersive Worlds: Wellbeing and Escapism Through Gaming, where academic and industry experts, and gamers themselves, discussed the reasons why we game, and the complex relationship between gaming and our well-being. We present here the key insights and experiences of these experts.

Mikayla Sinead, Founder and CEO of Bridge Network Group and Immersive Studio Manager at BOM (Birmingham Open Media)

Gaming means so many things to so many people. There is unfortunately a negative expectation of what a gamer is. We “know” the stereotypical dated image of a gamer. But I am proudly here to mess with the status quo and shake things up. Through my work #GameJoy carving space for underserved communities to reimagine who and what gaming is for I stand on the shoulders of giants like Jay-Ann Lopez (Black Girl Gamers), Cassie Hughes (Nox Lumina), Danielle Udogaranya (Evolotu), Stephanie Ijoma (NNESAGA) and Annabel Ashalley-Anthony (Melanin Gamers) who are all improving representation in the gaming industry for players and developers alike.

For me gaming is an amazing opportunity to time travel with my controller in hand, nostalgia evoked within me by a soundtrack or a classic character. In that moment I can be taken back to the 1990s as a child playing Nintendo 64 with my sister and cousins or with my dad playing the SEGA Megadrive. You see, games for me unlock joy, memories and a connection to people both in the present and my past. Surely when life is difficult for folks turning to the key to their joy is essential, so make the time to play, we all know it’s more than “just” a game.

Helen Greetham, founder of Afoot Games and Digital Education Developer at the University of Birmingham

In 2022, I began to create a video game which combined my love for point-and-click mystery games and Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. One of the big challenges I encountered writing a character who is famously a nigh-infallible genius was the issue of ‘ludonarrative dissonance’ – the gap between a character’s capabilities, and those of the player. This can lead to a sense of frustration and failure, which doesn’t make for a fun, mystery solving experience.

I ended up deciding that the main issue is one of embodiment – I was asking players to enjoy spending time with a character, while also becoming them. Some of my favourite games handle this problem in creative ways, such as the 2007 Agatha Christie Poirot title ‘Evil Under the Sun,’ which frames the story as Poirot’s hapless friend Hastings roleplaying as the detective. If the player makes a mistake, Hastings is the one to blame! Similarly, another Sherlock Holmes game ‘The Rose Tattoo’ incorporates Holmes’ fallibility by having him shaken by some bad news early in the story. His recovery and the player learning to play the game happens in tandem. In my own game, ‘The Beekeeper’s Picnic,’ I created a thin fourth wall where Holmes interacts directly with the player and seems very aware that he’s a character in a game.

One of the wonderful things about games is that they allow us these opportunities to immerse ourselves in other worlds, take up new roles and get inside the minds of others, all within a safe and often fun environment.

Dr Emma J Breeze, Assistant Professor in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law at the University of Birmingham and expert on International Humanitarian Law in military video games

Gaming is a cultural phenomenon and its relationship to the military has been researched from several perspectives, investigating and casting light on what has been called the ‘military-industrial-entertainment-media-complex’.

However, there is limited scholarship on the relationship between law and gaming. What literature there is, however, shows us that, across genres, gamers are required to enact various breaches of both International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law during their game play. It also shows us that there is potential to learn the law through video gaming, and that increasing the accuracy of the law within video games can increase the level of realism and thus the fun gamers experience.

With this increase in realism, and the immersive effects of gaming on the player, it is important to consider how the law is being represented, and how this may in turn impact on our perceptions of the law, and its future development. Instead of requiring developers to reflect the law accurately, my research emphasises that discovering parallel rules in virtual and real environments is central to understand how our perceptions of law may be cultivated.

Daniel Wheatley, Reader in Business and Labour Economics at the University of Birmingham and expert on well-being in work and leisure time

So, what about gaming and well-being? Well, as a time poor gamer I can definitely say that dipping into games when I can, whether video, board or tabletop miniatures, provides a welcome escape from the stresses of work and other dimensions of life, and a level of immersion that only the best film and other media can deliver. Indeed, gaming originates from the old English term ‘gamen’ meaning amusement or fun.

That said, my recent research using large-scale UK social survey data from Understanding Society, suggests some less than positive effects from gaming, especially among those engaging heavily in this activity. The relationship is complex, though, and what often drives individuals to engage heavily in gaming are personal circumstances. For example, people who are unemployed or otherwise economically inactive, including through ill health, often game heavily. In these cases, it is not necessarily gaming that drives lower reported well-being among these individuals, but rather circumstances including boredom, emptiness and lack of social connectedness, that continue to drive this use of time.

That said, through my research I’ve also found more consistent negative effects on changes in satisfaction with health for those reporting heavier levels of engagement in gaming, which may be explained by existing research which shows links between heavier levels of gaming and repetitive strain, eating disorders and other health concerns. This only represents part of the picture, though, as my research also suggests that time spent gaming can provide potential benefits to well-being, or at least support the maintenance of existing well-being levels including satisfaction with leisure time.

Together the views of our academic and industry experts present a fragmented picture, but one that emphasises that gaming has the potential to support and enhance our well-being. Caution must, however, be given to the potential for the positive effects of these immersive worlds to blur realities and consume our lives. The old saying ‘everything in moderation’ appears to apply strongly here, although many of us increasingly live by the alternative adage ‘everything in moderation including moderation!’ Have fun, play, but maybe leave that Platinum Trophy from time to time!



The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Birmingham.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *