People, Places, and Play: A Research Framework for Digital Game Experience in a Socio-Spatial Context

De Kort, IJsselsteijn, and Gajadhar's paper proposes a research framework for understanding digital game experience as shaped by social and spatial context. Its central thesis is that gaming is inherently social, and that existing models of game experience underweight the social processes that influence enjoyment, performance, and social contact. Drawing on social psychology, including arousal-based and evaluation-apprehension mechanisms, the authors argue that the presence of others, whether through co-playing, spectating, or the physical setting of play, meaningfully alters the experience rather than producing isolation. They identify four sociality characteristics, namely co-location, monitoring, communication, and relationship, as key dimensions for analysis.

A substantial portion of the framework is devoted to conceptualizing social presence as a continuum rather than a binary state. Social presence is described as varying with the perceptual access, communicative realism, and behavioural engagement of others, whether they are physically present, mediated through networks, or simulated. The authors highlight audience visibility and the embodied nature of game controllers, which make in-game actions observable to spectators and can heighten evaluation apprehension. Social-spatial layout, along with gender, age, and relationship differences, is presented as a moderating factor. The framework's contribution is largely theoretical, and the empirical support it promises is not presented in the material reviewed.

The reference base spans research on gaming prevalence, social and spatial theory from scholars such as Hall, Sommer, and Whyte, and studies of social presence and cooperative play in games. Taken together, these sources reflect the paper's emphasis on situating digital play within socially and physically structured environments. The overall conclusion is a call for models that account for both co-located and mediated play, positioning digital gaming as an activity embedded in its social and physical context.