Christian Wagner

This study explores the health beliefs of mass gamers and nongamers, addressing a critical gap in current research. As amateur esports gains popularity, concerns about the health risks associated with prolonged gaming have emerged. While existing studies focus on motivational aspects and promotional strategies, the potential health implications for mass gamers remain understudied, thus limiting the potential implications for amateur esports development. Utilizing the Health Belief Model Scale for Exercise, this research conducts an online survey ( N = 232) to compare health beliefs between mass gamers and nongamers with independent samples t tests and structural equation modeling analysis. The results of this study uncovered differences in health beliefs across various conditions and dimensions, and illustrate how these beliefs influence physical activity engagement and sitting time. The findings are expected to provide insights into how gamers are affected in their decision making regarding physical activity, particularly through variations in specific health belief dimensions. This research contributes to the broader discourse on (amateur) esports development and gaming research, offering implications for health risk awareness and health promotion strategies within the esports community. The results will inform future initiatives to balance the growth of (amateur) esports with the health and well-being of its participants.

Getting paid for completing microtasks online via crowdsourcing (i.e., microworking) has become a widely accepted way to earn money. Despite disputes over low pay rates, however, little is known about the extent of “lowness” and about the perceptions of microworkers concerning the value of micro-paid online activity. In an online survey on a microtask crowdsourcing platform, respondents demonstrated the dual attitudes of work and leisure toward microworking. Although actual wage rates were lower than microworkers expected, the perceived value of the money earned from microworking was paramount. The monetary equivalent, a newly developed metric calibrating microworkers’ subjective evaluations of monetary and nonmonetary dimensions, of microworking outstripped that of alternative activities, the majority of which were leisure activities. Instead of struggling with below-expectation pay rates, microworkers tend to appreciate the value of small gains, especially in contrast to potential losses incurred by alternatives activities.

Mobile game metrics have received attention since the emergence of big data technology and data-based decision-making. Among different metrics, the monthly active user number is usually significant because it shows the level of players’ engagement and the profit of this game as a business. Therefore, the monthly active user number is valuable for researchers, analysts, and decision-makers interested in the mobile game industry. However, the actual monthly active user number data typically have the accuracy, accessibility, granularity, and cost problems. Therefore, a proxy to the monthly active user number would be helpful to facilitate the decision-making process. This paper proposes to capture user activity through the searches on the Internet from an information-seeking perspective. And the online search volume, wiki page view, social media posts and views are proposed as potential proxies. This paper proposes that the online search volume is an acceptable proxy for the monthly active user number in the context of Geo Augmented Reality (AR) mobile games through data analysis.

Social media platforms facilitate coordinated adversary behaviors (e.g., coordinated inauthentic behavior, cybermobbing, distortion of the public discourse, proliferation of unreliable information, relinquished on-and offline privacy). Digital technologies enable transferring traditional adversarial behaviors into the online environment (e.g., bullying, harassment, disinformation) or generate new adversarial behaviors altogether (e.g., doxing).

The COVID-19 outbreak leads to the sudden lockdown of sports businesses across the world. Due to the difficulty of generating sports content as usual amid the global pandemic, some sports organizations around the world, resort to esports. Concretely, sports organizations let their professional athletes compete virtually in video games to produce competitive entertainment for the audience. Such “mixed” competitive entertainment attracts a high spectatorship and significant social media attention. This commentary seeks to provide a research-based explanation of the phenomenon and predict future developments.