Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2024
Abstract
This paper argues that the motivations for investing money in gacha games can be a function of the affective embedding of players within the game, and the game within broader circuits of cultural affinity and appeal. Whilst research on gacha games – and the specific role of loot boxes therein – has emphasised their associations with gambling, I contend that affect is another trigger that can motivate seemingly irrational playing behaviours. The affective embeddings of gacha games motivate players to curate aesthetic assemblages of virtual content that enable the mediated expression of the self. Drawing on qualitative data generated amongst young Singapore-based players of gacha games, I explore how the acquisition of characters, skins and collections can be motivated by the emotional payoff that comes from relationality rather than gambling.
Keywords
Gacha games, loot boxes, affective embeddings, mediated self, late capitalism
Discipline
Communication Technology and New Media
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
New Media and Society
Volume
26
Issue
2
First Page
823
Last Page
838
ISSN
1461-4448
Identifier
10.1177/14614448211067756
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Citation
WOODS, Orlando.(2024). The affective embeddings of gacha games: Aesthetic assemblages and the mediated expression of the self. New Media and Society, 26(2), 823-838.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3506
Copyright Owner and License
Authors
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448211067756