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University of Oxford study says playing video games doesn’t affect your mental wellbeing

The report examined the gaming habits of nearly 40,000 people as they played titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Apex Legends

A new study from the University of Oxford has revealed that playing video games doesn’t affect a person’s wellbeing.

As reported by The Guardian, the study tracked the habits of nearly 40,000 people.

They were asked to track information such as if they were playing for fun, to socialize, and or to meet goals within the game.

"With 40,000 observations across six weeks, we really gave increases and decreases in video game play a fair chance to predict emotional states in life satisfaction, and we didn’t find evidence for that – we found evidence that that’s not true in a practically significant way," said one of the Oxford researchers Andy Przybylski.

Oxford’s report examined the title’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Apex Legends, Eve Online, Forza Horizon 4, Gran Turismo Sport, Outriders, and The Crew 2.

The study also said that people who felt it necessary to play a game expressed that they had the worst satisfaction because of compulsion.

Additionally, Przybylski said that the report was basic, for example they noted that it didn’t examine what people are doing as they play games or create an experiment for study.

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Jeffrey Rousseau avatar
Jeffrey Rousseau: Jeffrey joined GamesIndustry.biz in March 2021. Based in Florida, his work focused on the intersectionality of games and media. He enjoys reading, podcasts, staying informed, and learning how people are tackling issues.