Game graphic, emotions, and player performance : A qualitative study about their relations

Abstract: This paper will cover the correlation between emotions, game graphics and their effect on player performance in competitive video games. In order to analyze and measure player performance, a game demo was made for the purpose of this study. This is a qualitative study with 10 participants that were split into pairs of two. The outcome shows that while game graphics do not have a notable impact on players performance, it does affect feelings of presence and how enjoyable a game is. Whereas emotions on the other hand play a huge role in performance. Positive emotions such as confidence and excitement, show an increase in player performance while negative emotions such as anxiety and frustration have the opposite effect.