Alternative Identities within digital game worlds -MSc Thesis
Title: Alternative Identities within digital game worlds: a case study of Grand Theft Auto examining factors and mechanisms for players’ development of alternative identities
Author: Mallé Marega
Institution: Stocholm University (SU), Department of Computer and Systems Sciences (DSV), Sweden
Date and language: Spring term 2022, English
Type: Thesis at MSc level degree project 30 HP ( Degree project at the master level )
Key words: Identity, Avatar, Persona, Second selves, Digital world, Game world, Online gaming, Social interaction, Grand Theft Auto, Alternative identity
Advisor: Mirjam Palosaari Eladhari
Abstract
This research study aims to investigate how social interactions, through a virtual game world, are involved in the development of an alternative identity of a player within virtual game worlds. To illustrate this, a case study of the video game Grand Theft Auto V, developed by Rockstar Games in 2013, with its online game mode, was conducted. A qualitative and a phenomenological approach were used, and the data was collected with the help of the literature study and the semi-structured interviews conducted with five participants. The area of questioning for the interviews focuses on the perception of the game, the environment, their avatar and themselves within the game, the different choices made, the motivation behind it, and their behaviors within the game. The problem is that the mechanisms regarding the development of identity within the virtual game world seem unclear, not explicit enough, and misrepresented in literature. The aim of this study is to understand by analyzing their choice, their feelings, and behaviors to perceive their alternative identity. To analyze these data, a thematic analysis was carried out. Although the few numbers of participants gave an insight rather than a clear result, the conducted literature study made our analysis reveal a strong correlation between the development of the alternative identity of the players and their social interactions within the game. Indeed, the identity created within the game, the interaction made with players, and the perception of their own avatar and others’ avatar are key factors of the player’s alternative identity.