On the environment-destructive probabilistic trends: A perceptual and behavioral study on video game players

Abstract

Currently, gaming is the world's favorite form of entertainment. Various studies have shown how games impact players' perceptions and behaviors, prompting opportunities for purposes beyond entertainment. This study uses Animal Crossing: New Horizons (ACNH)—a real-time life-simulation game—as a unique case study of how video games can affect humans' environmental perceptions. A dataset of 584 observations from a survey of ACNH players and the Hamiltonian MCMC technique have enabled us to explore the relationship between in-game behaviors and perceptions. Here we show a probabilistic trend towards exploiting the in-game environment despite players' perceptions, suggesting that the simplification of commercial game design may overlook opportunities to engage and educate players in pro-environmental activities.