Paper Number
ICIS2025-2507
Paper Type
Short
Abstract
Growing digital platforms harness complex user interactions to incorporate social features that enhance user experience. Among these, party play is a prevalent feature in online team-based games, facilitating players to team with friends rather than strangers. However, limited evidence exists regarding its influence on player performance and engagement, key determinants of gaming platform success. Leveraging gameplay records from a leading online multiplayer game, this research examines the effects of party play on player outcomes. We find that players perform worse when teaming with friends and subsequently engage in less gameplay. We propose that the relatedness needs fulfillment and friend coordination challenges as underlying mechanisms: players tend to engage in more party play and less non-party games, with higher overall engagement when coordinating with friends is relatively easy, as indicated by closely similar gameplay schedules with friends. We discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings for digital platforms.
Recommended Citation
An, Jingzhao; Liu, De; Santhanam, Radhika; and Zhao, Xi, "The Impact of Teaming with Friends on User Retention: Evidence from an Online Multiplayer Game" (2025). ICIS 2025 Proceedings. 33.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2025/hti/hti/33
The Impact of Teaming with Friends on User Retention: Evidence from an Online Multiplayer Game
Growing digital platforms harness complex user interactions to incorporate social features that enhance user experience. Among these, party play is a prevalent feature in online team-based games, facilitating players to team with friends rather than strangers. However, limited evidence exists regarding its influence on player performance and engagement, key determinants of gaming platform success. Leveraging gameplay records from a leading online multiplayer game, this research examines the effects of party play on player outcomes. We find that players perform worse when teaming with friends and subsequently engage in less gameplay. We propose that the relatedness needs fulfillment and friend coordination challenges as underlying mechanisms: players tend to engage in more party play and less non-party games, with higher overall engagement when coordinating with friends is relatively easy, as indicated by closely similar gameplay schedules with friends. We discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings for digital platforms.
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Comments
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