Research on the Impact of Video Game Characteristics on Russian Consumers Purchase Intention

There are currently over 65 million people in the Russian Federation who regularly play video games of any type and on any platform. About half of them fall into the category of "paying" gamers - those who buy games or pay for in-game content, which industry analysts view as an indicator of emerging markets. As it becomes increasingly difficult for developers to compete in the video game market, it is increasingly important for publishers and video game developers to understand why consumers play and buy games. A major challenge for the gaming industry is figuring out which features of a game can grab consumers' attention and influence their intent to purchase games. The purpose of this study is to examine which characteristics of video games can affect the game participation of Russian single player gamers and consumers' willingness to purchase games, and to make suggestions for single player game developers and publishers. A survey was conducted among 492 Russian single player game players; the research results were obtained through reliability analysis, correlation analysis and linear regression analysis. The results of this study show that the game features such as control functions, reward and punishment features have a significant positive impact on flow and purchase intention, and flow has a significant positive impact on purchase intention. This research contributes to the development of a video game features theory of video games by determining the extent to which consumers' emotional responses and behaviors are directly affected by videogame structural features and game engagement. In order to expand the sales of single player video games, game developers and publishers need to focus on the interactivity and game balance.