Exploring the Effects of VR Gameplay Videos on Performance and Experience

Key insights

6 takeaways

01
Watching a three-minute first-person VR gameplay video significantly improved performance in the study: viewers scored a mean of 2.00 gadget (secondary-weapon) kills versus 0.38 for controls (p < .01).
02
Video exposure produced no direct effect on the seven measured aspects of game experience, but mediation analysis showed it indirectly enhanced immersion, competency, flow, and positive affect via knowledge acquisition and better in-game performance.
03
Motor-skill learning, tension, challenge, and negative affect showed no significant indirect effects from watching the video, suggesting observational learning transferred knowledge more than physical skill.
04
The study was a controlled lab experiment with 42 participants split evenly between a treatment group that watched the video and a control group, all playing the VR game Longbow.
05
The authors conclude pre-gameplay videos can meaningfully enhance VR game experience, but caution that results rest on a single game and one video format, limiting generalizability.
06
As a 2019 DiGRA study by Jeffrey Ho, the research adds empirical support for watching others play as a practical learning resource in immersive interactive media, though its game coverage and sample size are narrow.

Summary

A 2019 DiGRA study by Jeffrey Ho investigates whether watching virtual reality (VR) gameplay videos can indirectly improve players' in-game performance and game experience through observational learning. The central thesis is that viewers who observe skilled play acquire knowledge and, to a lesser extent, motor skills, which then translate into better performance and a richer experience. The study was grounded in a controlled laboratory experiment with 42 participants, split evenly into treatment and control groups, who played the VR game Longbow. The treatment group first watched a three-minute first-person gameplay video.

The most consistent finding concerns performance: participants who viewed the video scored more gadget (secondary-weapon) kills than controls, with a mean of 2.00 compared to 0.38, a statistically significant difference (p < .01). Direct effects on the seven measured aspects of game experience were not detected. However, mediation analyses revealed that video exposure indirectly enhanced immersion, competency, flow, and positive affect, operating through knowledge acquisition and improved game performance. Motor-skill learning, tension, challenge, and negative affect showed no significant indirect effects.

The authors conclude that pre-gameplay videos can meaningfully enhance VR game experience, though they caution that the evidence rests on a single game and a first-person video format, limiting generalizability. The study's scope is thus narrow in game coverage and sample size, but it contributes empirical support to the broader view that watching others play can serve as a practical learning resource in immersive interactive media.