Research On Game Live Streaming Audiences’ Uses And Gratifications

Game live streaming is widely popular due to its interactivity,entertainment value,and real-time features,but it can also have an impact on the audience’s physical and mental development.Analyzing the audience’s usage needs and satisfaction with online game live streaming can help meet their healthy and reasonable needs,promote platform development,and enhance the positive social value of game live streaming.This study focuses on the audience of the mobile game Honor of Kings and uses the theory of usages and satisfactions as a research framework.The study employs research methods such as in-depth interviews and questionnaires,and obtained data from 415 Honor of Kings live streaming audience members and conducted in-depth interviews with 5 of them.Based on this,the study summarizes the basic usage of Honor of Kings live streaming audience,main motivations and satisfaction levels,evaluation of game live streaming and platforms,and conducts a correlation analysis between audience usage and satisfaction.The study also summarizes the reasons for the popularity of game live streaming and its positive and negative effects.Finally,the study proposes some suggestions based on the research findings for game live streaming to better meet the needs of the audience and promote healthy development of the industry.The study found that:(1)the entertainment value of game live streaming is the most important reason for audience members to watch,as it provides a way for busy modern people to relieve stress and relax.(2)Satisfaction with personal and social integration needs is lower than that of cognitive,emotional,and stress-relieving needs.The reasons for this include the fact that satisfying personal and social integration needs require direct interaction and connection with others,which is difficult to achieve through solo viewing.It also requires a certain amount of time,energy,and money,and the virtual nature of the internet makes it difficult to maintain long-term and stable online interactions,which leads to less development of online relationships that extend to offline socializing.(3)The frequency and duration of game live streaming audiences’ viewing,their consumption amount in the live room,and the degree of audience satisfaction are positively correlated.Male game live streaming audiences have a higher level of satisfaction than female audiences in terms of cognitive and personal integration needs.The older the game live streaming audience,the higher the level of satisfaction in cognitive needs,personal integration needs,and stress relief needs.Game live streaming audiences who choose the computer as their primary viewing method have a higher level of satisfaction in social integration needs and stress relief needs than those who choose the mobile device as their primary viewing method.(4)The personalization and initiative of audience viewing behavior have both positive and negative effects,as it helps meet the audience’s needs for leisure,entertainment,and creativity while also exposing human weaknesses due to excessive indulgence.Game anchors,platform operators and advertisers often cater to the audience’s preferences,which can lead to negative effects of game live streaming.The study suggests that regulating online game live streaming can be done by strengthening supervision and management,enriching platform interaction methods,and improving audience media literacy to promote the healthy physical and mental development of the audience.