COVID-19 as 'Game Changer' for the Physical Activity and Mental Well-Being of Augmented Reality Game Players During the Pandemic: Mixed Methods Survey Study

• Published in: Journal of medical Internet research 2020-12, Vol.22 (12), p.e25117-e25117
• Main Authors: Ellis, Louise A, Lee, Matthew D, Ijaz, Kiran, Smith, James, Braithwaite, Jeffrey, Yin, Kathleen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Augmented Reality; COVID-19; Exercise - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Mental Health; Motivation; Original Paper; Pandemics; SARS-CoV-2; Self Report; Surveys and Questionnaires; Video Games - psychology
• ISSN: 1438-8871; 1439-4456; 1438-8871
• DOI: 10.2196/25117

Location-based augmented reality (AR) games, such as Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, have been shown to have a beneficial impact on the physical activity, social connectedness, and mental health of their players. In March 2020, global social distancing measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the AR games developer Niantic Inc to implement several changes to ensure continued player engagement with Pokémon GO and Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. We sought to examine how the physical and mental well-being of players of these games were affected during the unprecedented COVID-19 restriction period as well as how their video game engagement was affected. The aims of this study were to examine the impact of COVID-19-related social restrictions on the physical and mental well-being of AR game players; to examine the impact of COVID-19-related social restrictions on the use of video games and motivations for their use; and to explore the potential role of AR games (and video games in general) in supporting well-being during COVID-19-related social restrictions. A mixed methods web-based self-reported survey was conducted in May 2020, during which COVID-19-related social restrictions were enforced in many countries. Participants were recruited on the web via four subreddits dedicated to Pokémon GO or Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Data collected included quantitative data on demographics, time spent playing video games, physical activity, and mental health; qualitative data included motivations to play and the impact of video games on mental health during COVID-19 lockdown. We report results for 2004 participants (1153/1960 male, 58.8%, average age 30.5 years). Self-reported physical activity during COVID-19-related social restrictions significantly decreased from 7.50 hours per week on average (SD 11.12) to 6.50 hours (SD 7.81) (P