Video games provide us with many different ways to view the game world and these vary both across genres and within the same game—whether this is top-down perspective in a 4X Strategy game or changing between first-person perspective (1PP) and third-person perspective (3PP) in an MMO. The preference for 1PP and 3PP is interesting to explore because many games/genres allow players to pick or switch between the two.

From a game design perspective, switching between 1PP vs. 3PP can quickly run up against core game mechanics (e.g., the unfair advantage of peeking around corners if 3PP is allowed in a Shooter)—i.e., a game designer might have to make a choice between either 1PP or 3PP. So just how strong are these perspective preferences and how do they vary by gender, age, and genre?

The Survey Examined Perspective Preference By Genre

The Gamer Motivation Profile is a 5-minute survey that allows gamers to get a personalized report of their gaming motivations, and see how they compare with other gamers. Over 1.25 million gamers worldwide have taken this survey. The 12 motivations that are measured in our model were identified via statistical analysis of how gaming motivations cluster together.

See how you compare with other gamers. Take a 5-minute survey and get your Gamer Motivation Profile along with personalized game recommendations.

In an optional survey (N=9,585) we ran from February 2022 through January 2023 alongside the Gamer Motivation Profile, we invited gamers to complete an additional survey after they had looked at their profile results. In this survey, we first asked gamers to identify which game genres they most enjoy playing (up to 4 genres. Then, for each genre they selected, we asked them some genre-specific questions, including a question about the perspective they prefer using.

Overall, this survey sample leans towards a core PC/Console demographic:

Gender: Male (65%), Female (25%), Non-Binary (7%), Did Not Answer (3%)
Age: 13-17 (15%), 18-24 (45%), 25-34 (28%), 35+ (7%)
Gamer Type: Casual (8%), Core (74%), Hardcore (18%)
Platforms Used For Gaming: PC (84%), Console (55%), Mobile (35%), VR (8%)

Shooter Fans Strongly Prefer 1PP. MMO Fans Strongly Prefer 3PP.

The main reason why we have to ask about perspective preferences within specific genres is because the norms of 1PP vs. 3PP vary a great deal by genre. We can’t just ask gamers about their perspective preference agnostic of genre.

For example, MMORPG fans are most likely to prefer 3PP (75%) whereas Shooter fans are most likely to prefer 1PP (82%). Across the 6 genres we explored, the vast majority of gamers in each genre have a preferred perspective. Shooter fans are most likely to have a preference—only 13% have no preference. Sandbox fans are most likely to have no preference (35%). Perspective preference is most split in the Horror genre and the Sandbox genre.

Female Gamers Are More Likely to Prefer 3PP.

Across the 6 genres we explored, female gamers are more likely to prefer 3PP while male gamers are more likely to prefer 1PP. The magnitude of this difference varied across genres—it’s strongest in the Action-Adventure, MMORPG, RPG, and Sandbox genres; and it’s more muted in the Horror and Shooter genres.

The breakdown charts also show that female gamers are more likely to have a specific perspective preference across these genres.

Female gamers are also more likely to have a perspective preference to begin with across these genres.

One potential explanation for this is that women are more susceptible to visually-induced motion sickness and 1PP tends to worsen this effect. Thus, women might be more likely to prefer 3PP to counteract this.

Older Gamers Are More Likely to Prefer 3PP.

Older gamers tend to prefer 3PP. This effect is most noticeable in the Action-Adventure, Horror, MMORPG, and Sandbox genres; and it’s more muted in the RPG and Shooter genres. For example, in the Horror and Sandbox genres, gamers who are 35+ are more than twice as likely to prefer 3PP compared to gamers who are 13-17.

Of note, older players preferring 3PP doesn’t always trade off neatly with younger players preferring 1PP. This does clearly happen in the Horror genre, but in the other genres, older players preferring 3PP is largely trading off against younger players who don’t have any perspective preference. One potential interpretation is that younger players are more open to different gameplay mechanics while older gamers are more particular and set in their gaming habits and preferences, but this doesn’t explain the specific preference among older gamers for 3PP.

Younger players may be more open to different gameplay mechanics while older gamers may be more particular and set in their gaming habits and preferences.

There Likely Isn’t One Main Motivation Driver for the Age Effect

We considered a variety of potential explanations for the age effect. Perhaps older gamers are also more susceptible to motion sickness? But the science seems to show that it’s actually young people under age 12 who are more susceptible. Perhaps older gamers care less about immersion and role-playing? We dug into the gaming motivation variables to explore this.

Because all the respondents who participated in this survey had also completed the Gamer Motivation Profile, we had their gaming motivation scores on hand. The following table shows the correlations between the 12 motivations and perspective preference in each genre, controlling for age and gender.

In this table of correlations, the perspective preference in each genre is coded 1=1PP, 2=No Preference, 3=3PP. Thus, a negative correlation means those who prefer 1PP tend to score high on a particular motivation, whereas a positive correlation means those who prefer 3PP tend to score high on a particular motivation.

The color coding is a spectrum that goes from:
– Dark Blue: much lower than table average
– White: near table average
– Dark Orange: much higher than table average

Overall, gamers who prefer 1PP tend to score higher on Destruction (i.e., guns, explosions, chaos, mayhem) and this effect is strongest in the Action-Adventure and RPG genres. Gamers who prefer 3PP tend to score higher on Story (i.e., deep narrative, interesting NPCs, relationships with NPCs) and this is strongest in the RPG genre.

At the same time, the table also makes clear that the motivation markers for perspective preference vary across genres. So gamers who prefer 1PP in the Action-Adventure genre tend to care more about Destruction. But in the Sandbox genre, gamers who prefer 1PP tend to care more about Community (i.e., teamwork, social interaction). And in the Shooter genre, gamers who prefer 1PP tend to care more about Competition (i.e., matches, duels, leaderboards). So there isn’t a single motivation factor or even a consistent set of factors that drives perspective preference across genres.

Motivation markers for perspective preference vary across genres.

Nonetheless, the chart provides some game design guidelines for specific genres. For example, an RPG with a deep narrative would likely benefit more from 3PP in terms of audience preference.

Of note is also what’s missing. The importance of world immersion and role-playing (tracked by the Fantasy motivation) doesn’t vary with 1PP vs. 3PP preference. This was a surprise to us during the analysis as it seemed like it would be the most “obvious” explanation.

Two Other Possibilities

It’s also important to keep in mind that we’re looking at age in a snapshot manner rather than longitudinally, so the age cohort effects may be generation effects rather than genuine age differences. For example, perhaps older gamers played games with very different design philosophies in their formative years and those preferences have persisted even as the game market itself has changed.

And while the motivation correlations point at some potential explanations, many other potential, and perhaps more relevant, factors were not explored in the survey.

Have Your Preferences in Perspective Changed As You Got Older?

What about you? Do these findings align with your own preferences between 1PP vs. 3PP? Have you started to prefer 3PP as you’ve gotten older? Do you have any ideas for other reasons for these differences that we haven’t considered in this post?

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