Motivational Factors of Australian Mobile Gamers

Mobile games are a fast growing industry, overtaking all other video game platforms with year on year increases in revenue. Many studies have been conducted to explore the motivations of why video games players play their selected games. However very little research has focused on mobile gamers. In addition, Australian studies on the topic are sparse. This paper aimed to discover what motivates a mobile gamer from the perspective of the initial motivational factors attracting them to a mobile game, and the motivational factors that provide interest to continue playing and thereby increase game longevity. A survey was conducted online for Australian participants, which attracted 123 respondents. The survey was formulated by focusing on the 12 key subcomponents as motivational factors of the Gamer Motivational Profile v2 model devised by Quantic Foundry. It was discovered that mobile gamers are a completely different breed of gamer in contrast to the general video gamer. Strategy and challenge which are subcomponents of mastery proved popular among all mobile gamers, while destruction and excitement, subcomponents of action, were often the least motivating factors of all. With the newly discovered data, perhaps mobile game developers can pursue the correct avenues of game design when catering to their target audience.