Exploring the Facets of the Multiplayer VR Gaming Experience

While the topic of investigating user experience with immersive services, such as Social Virtual Reality (VR), is starting to gain traction in the research community, the unique case of multiplayer VR games requires a more specific approach. Attempts to investigate user experiences with this complex, multidimensional service are hindered by the absence of specific standards and guidelines going beyond what we know about non-immersive gaming. In this article, we present the results of a user study (N = 32) exploring participants’ experience of playing two competitive VR games of different genres (shooter, sports game), as we focus on three distinct facets of multiplayer VR gaming — network, interpersonal competitiveness, and social interaction. Furthermore, approaching the issue from the perspective of Quality of Experience researchers looking to conduct future user studies on the topic, we also present our findings as a way to shed light on factors that need further consideration, especially in the context of participant recruitment and methodology design, such as the choice of access network to be used for testing, and the issue of matchmaking study participants based on skill and prior relationship.