The Emotional Impact of Video Games on Players

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_43How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Video games; Emotional impact; Interactive media; Game design; Emotion regulation

Abstract

Video games have evolved into a globally pervasive cultural phenomenon, and their multifaceted emotional impacts on players have become a focal point of inquiry across psychology, human-computer interaction, and related academic fields. This study conducts a systematic exploration of the bidirectional emotional influence mechanisms of video games, grounding its analysis in three theoretical frameworks: the immersive experience theory, self-determination theory, and cognitive core theory. It further dissects the emotional design logic of video games from four interwoven dimensions: interactive feedback cycles, narrative engagement, social interaction dynamics, and multi sensory aesthetic expression. The findings reveal that video games function as a dynamic emotional system, where players’ active participation constitutes the core mechanism driving emotional impacts. This insight is pivotal for guiding the healthy development of game culture and maximizing players’ positive emotional engagement with video games.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jiayu Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/04
TI  - The Emotional Impact of Video Games on Players
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 3rd International Conference on Public Relations and Media Communication (PRMC 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 388
EP  - 397
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_43
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-609-3_43
ID  - Li2026
ER  -