Beyond the bound: player persona and user journeys in the virtual world and the metaverse

Abstract

This study investigates the player persona and user journey in the metaverse, an immersive virtual world as a game with a real-life social and economic system. Almost 50 players were engaged in the survey. Based on the existing study on the player persona in Multiple User Domain games and its extended researches, the survey was set in different dimensions to understand the categories of the metaverse users. Open questions were set to explore new categories in metaverse games beyond the basic player types. In the next step involving better design the metaverse, several players were randomly selected from each gamer type to conduct the interviews after the survey to better analyze how the metaverse influences their behaviour.

As the result of the research, a model of player persona in the metaverse with a new element ‘centralized-decentralized was made. Four new personas in the metaverse are generalized, including the saboteur, the astronaut, the campaigner, and the designer. Through the player journey maps, metaverse builders can also learn the player activities clearly, and use them as references while upgrading their virtual world.