Barriers to playing digital games: Why do some people choose not to play digital games?

Abstract

While the global gaming industry has become a significant economic force, surpassing the film and music industries in market size, it has not achieved the same level of universality as its entertainment counterparts. Previous literature has mainly focused on gaming motivation, addiction, and regulation, ignoring non-game players and their barriers. Therefore, this study explores why people are hesitant to play digital games and investigates the factors that contribute to this resistance. The current study incorporates Crawford and Godbey’s (1987) leisure barriers into Innovation Resistance Theory. Of the seven barriers identified, this study categorizes four as intrapersonal, two as interpersonal, and one as a structural barrier. Further, it explores the differences between non-game players by categorizing them into those without any digital gaming experience (NG-N) and those with previous digital gaming experience (NG-F). The findings of this study suggest that perceived incompetence and negative social perception are the main barriers to playing digital games. As for the group analysis, there is a statistically significant difference between NG-N and NG-F players. These results provide valuable insights for both gaming industry, and regulatory bodies to create a better environment for the gaming ecosystem and expand its potential user base.