Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Female Video Game Player-character Persona and Emotional Attachment

2021; Deakin University; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21153/psj2020vol6no2art963

2205-5258

Jacqueline Burgess, Christian Jones,

Media, Gender, and Advertising

This research, using online qualitative survey questions, explored how players of the PlayStation 4 console game, Horizon Zero Dawn, formed emotional attachments to characters while playing as, and assuming the persona of the female player-character, Aloy. It was found that the respondents (approximately 71% male) formed emotional attachments to the female player-character (PC) and non-player characters. Players found the characters to be realistic and well developed and they also found engaging with the storyworld via the female PC a profound experience. This research advances knowledge about video games in general and video game character attachment specifically, as well as the emerging but under-researched areas of Persona Studies and Game Studies.