Developing a Theory of Subjectivity for Video Gaming

Abstract

Video game studies in mainstream psychology are often limited to investigating the positive and negative effects of playing on mental health. These studies adhere to a reductionist perspective trying to make a direct link between violence, depression, or anxiety and playing video games. I argue that to fully understand the subjective experience of video gaming, there is a need to develop a theory of subjectivity that can explain why and how immersion happens in the experience of playing video games. To develop this theory, I compare the experience of playing video games to the experience of watching a movie and then, based on preexisting subjectivity theories in cinema, I try to develop a similar theory for gaming experience. Based on the empirical data collected from interviewing gamers and my theoretical insights, I provide a theory of subjectivity which explains the subjective experience of playing video games.