UPEQ: ubisoft perceived experience questionnaire: A self-determination evaluation tool for video games

In order to appeal to a growing market, game developers are offering a wide variety of activities. It is becoming necessary to understand which psychological need each activity caters for. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the development and evaluation of an instrument to assess which basic psychological needs are satisfied by different video games. This work is part of a growing effort in HCI to develop surveys able to capture subtle nuances of the player experience. This model, UPEQ, was developed by transforming a self-determination theory questionnaire into a video game specific survey. UPEQ consists of three subscale of Autonomy, Competence and Relatedness, which, through two studies focusing on development and validation of the model showed significant correlations with other self-reported measures of sense of transportation to the game as well as enjoyment of and engagement with the game. Regression with in-game behavior of players tracked by game engine also confirmed that each subscale of UPEQ independently predicts playtime, money spent on the game and playing as a group.