Individual behaviors and beyond: Toward a multidimensional view of gamer identity

Aims. “Gamers” have historically been described via consumption habits and other unidimensional definitions such as genres played. Increasingly, researchers understand social identity as situated within multidimensional contexts, including community members’ interactions with other members and society at large.Methods and results. Our qualitative study involving 434 fighting game community members suggests this expanded, more multidimensional view of social identity is a more accurate reflection of how people who play games view their identities. Our findings focused on four themes of gamer identity: (1) behaviors, (2) player motivations, (3) centrality, and (4) negative perceptions.Conclusion. Our research complements more recent research on gamer identity incorporating individual-level gaming habits or preferences and group-level identities emerging from out-of-game and/or in-game worlds. In this way, we consider the influence of multiple contexts on individual identity. Understanding the influence of various social contexts can provide better insight into the multidimensional nature of gamer identity.