Audio Immersion in Games - A Case Study Using An Online Game With Background Music and Sound Effects

The Computer Games Journal 2(2) Lammas 2013
Audio immersion in games – a case study using an online game

with background music and sound effects
Stephen Gormanley1
1: Address: School of Computing, the University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Renfrewshire, U.K.
Abstract
Immersion is term that is often used when describing how good a game is. However, there are different
concepts of immersion and different opinions on what causes a player to become immersed. Previous studies
have shown that immersion is an area of game development that has attracted great interest from gamers and
researchers. Studies into areas such as player immersion have successfully shown that players can become
immersed through graphics and audio features of games. Audio immersion is often overlooked in place of
graphics and there is a general assumption that a game with high-quality graphics is more immersive than one
with simple graphics.
This paper reports on a study into the effects of audio features on player immersion. This was achieved by
creating a prototype game that makes use of different applications of audio within gameplay. The effects of
audio in the prototype were assessed via: (i) the creation of an online game with four levels (with and/or without
sound effects and background music); and (ii) an online survey, which asked players to quantify how much they
felt immersed when playing the game. Links to both were e-mailed to over 100 computing students, and
completed by 30 recipients. The survey results show that many of the 30 players felt that the background music
and sound effects increased their sense of immersion.
Keywords: audio, immersion, video games, online survey, players
Article Information
Received: June 2013

Accepted:August 2013
Available: online September 2013
Copyright of the author ©2013 • Reproduction rights owned by The Computer Games Journal Ltd ©2013
1. Introduction
When developing a computer game or any other virtual environment such as virtual reality simulators
an important factor to be considered is player/user immersion. Gamers (e.g. GamesDomain, 2001),
developers (e.g. Gamespot, 2010) and game reviewers (e.g. IGN, 2011) have mentioned that
immersion is a key element in defining what makes a game good. Immersion is still a widely debated
topic and there are different concepts and ideas on what causes a player to become immersed in a
game. There has been research into different areas of player immersion, including: (i) how a player
becomes immersed; (ii) different game factors that help a player become immersed; (iii) different
levels of immersion; and (iv) studies into the link between immersion and addiction.1-7
Copyright of the author ©2013 103

Reproduction rights owned by The Computer Games Journal Ltd ©2013
www.computergamesjournal.com
2. Literature review
2.1: Immersion
Murray (1997) stated that the term immersion is complex, in that an interesting story can be told in
virtual experiences because our brains are programmed to interpret them in such a way that they can
“blur the world around us”. Pleasure occurs when a person feels as if he/she has been transported to
a different world, regardless of the content. This experience is referred to as ‘immersion’. Immersion
is a metaphor that is derived from the feeling of being completely submerged under water. It is the
same feeling that humans seek from a mental experience when becoming psychologically immersed
in something. In the field of computer games/virtual reality immersion is the sense of being completely
submerged in a virtual world.8
Brown and Cairns (2004) implied that the term is commonly used within the computer gaming
environment and is mostly used when referring to gaming software. Similarly, Alexander et al (2005)
suggested that the term is also associated with gamers and video games. Cheng and Cairns (2005)
suggested that immersion is a term that is widely used by gamers and designers to promote, review
and describe the gaming experience. Grimshaw et al (2005) described immersion as "the holy grail"
of computer games design; that is that it is described by gamers and designers as an important
aspect of good games.1,6,10
Brown and Cairns (2004) identified that gamers, researchers and game designers regard immersion
as an experience which is so powerful that it incorporates high levels of engagement andengrossment
by the player. Liljedahl and Ortqvist (2010) agreed that immersion can be a powerful experience
which is considered by gamers when playing a game, by designers when creating the game, and by
reviewers when reviewing the game.1,11
A term that is often used synonymously with immersion is presence. Heeter (1992) suggested that
presence refers to being part of a virtual environment. Seah and Cairns (2008) also suggested that
presence is the feeling of being part of a virtual world rather than being in the real world. When
people who feel that they are part of the virtual world and are lost to the real world it becomes evident
in the sense that they are immersed. Furthermore, Seah and Cairns (ibid) identified that this sense of
immersion is classed as ‘perceptual immersion’ and not ‘psychological immersion’. They mentioned,
by way of example, that a game such as TetrisTM did not give the player the opportunity to feel
presence (because there is no virtual world with which the player can engage), but that the game
could still be immersive. Similarly, Liljedahl and Ortqvist (2010) suggested that the two terms of
presence and immersion are closely related, but nonetheless distinct.7,11-13
Seah and Cairns (2008) acknowledged that not everyone agreed with this belief. They listed other
concepts that are related to immersion (such as presence, flow and cognitive absorption) but which
are completely distinct from immersion. Weibel et al (2008) conducted a study with a group of 80
people and concluded that the concepts of presence, flow and enjoyment are similar, but still quite
different.7,14
Seah and Cairns (2008) also suggested that the concept of flow is a harmonious state of mind, where
the player is engaged with an activity that they find challenging but not too difficult. The player must
have a clear sense of how to progress towards the goal set for him/her, and the activity must not be
beyond the player’s skill level. The overall outcome of the activity should be enjoyable and be a
positive experience that the player finds rewarding. It is then suggested that games can still be
immersive but do not provide flow. Lindley and Nacke (2008) found in their study that immersion is

closely related to what Csikszentmihalyi described as ‘flow’. Csikszentmihalyi (1990) described ‘flow’
as a "holistic sensation that people feel when they act with total involvement".7,15,16
The concept of cognitive absorption is identified as different from immersion. The intention of
cognitive absorption is to identify people’s tendency to become absorbed in computing activities, as
suggested by Seah and Cairns (2008). Cairns et al (2008) suggested that cognitive absorption is
exhibited through five dimensions: (i) temporal dissociation; (ii) attention focus; (iii) heightened
enjoyment; (iv) control; and (v) curiosity. They suggested that the main goal of cognitive absorption is
to build a better understanding of how people react to information technology. However, the term
“immersion” is usually focused on specific tasks or experiences when playing video games, whereas
cognitive absorption refers to people’s general beliefs about computing activities.7,17
2.2: The three levels of involvement
It may be suggested that immersion is related to these other terms of flow, presence and cognitive
absorption but is made distinct by how it occurs and how it only addresses particular experiences of
gameplay. In Brown and Cairns’ study into game immersion, they found that the immersion in
gameplay could be categorized into three different levels of involvement: the first level is engagement;
the second level is engrossment; and the third (and last) level is total immersion.1
Engagement
As mentioned, the first level of immersion identified by Brown and Cairns is engagement. They
suggested that this is the lowest level of immersion found within a game and must precede any other
level of immersion. In order to become engaged with a game, the player will need to ‘invest’ time,
effort and attention to it. In their study, Brown and Cairns found that at each stage of immersion there
were certain properties of immersion that they called "barriers" that controlled how immersed a person
was. To become engaged in a game two important barriers must be overcome: 1,7
• Access: it was found that if a player does not like a particular genre of game then it is unlikely
that he/she will play the game;
• Availability: i.e. how much investment of time, effort and attention a player puts into a game. It is
suggested that the player must put a relatively large amount of time into a game to be engaged
and if a player had "played for ages" then he/she would feel more involved. It was also
mentioned that if a player loses track of time it can be said that he/she is immersed. Seah and
Cairns (2008) reported that people who use computers or who play video games on a daily
basis tend to show high amounts of engagement in the sense that they spend a substantial
amount of time performing these activities, and when they are not, they spend a lot of time
thinking about them.
The amount of effort players put into the game is also linked to engagement. It was found that effort
is related to the perception of ‘rewards’, i.e. if a player puts more effort playing a game, he/she
expects to be rewarded. Attention is related more to engrossment and total immersion, rather than
engagement, even though a gamer must initially invest attention into the game. Brown and Cairns
(2004) suggested that engagement can be described as only the initial start of immersion. However,
McMahan (2003) described engagement to be when a player becomes so engaged in a game that
they reached a point of near-obsessiveness. McMahan suggested that this state of in-depth feeling of
immersion is commonly known as ‘deep play’. This term was taken from The Theory of Legislation by

Jeremy Bentham (1931), and was used to refer to a state of mind where players would enter a game
without thinking about the stakes.1,12,18
Engrossment
The second level of immersion described by Brown and Cairns is engrossment. For players to
become engrossed in a game, they must feel emotionally attached to the game in such a way that a
combination of all the game features directly affects the players’ emotions. Their study also reported
that participants mentioned that game features which were important to them were the visuals,
interesting tasks and plot. They concluded that gamers could tell if a game had been built well, and
that they could identify areas game features into which the developers had put extra effort to make
the game better. The gamers in their study stated that a well-constructed game was more enjoyable
to them.1
A high level of ‘emotional investment’ in a game is added at this stage of immersion due to the time,
effort and attention that has been previously been put into the game. This makes players want to keep
on playing the game and they feel ‘emotionally drained’ when they stop playing. At this level of
immersion, the player’s emotions are directly affected by the game and it becomes the only focus of
the player’s attention. Calleja (2007) suggested that there is an emotional connection between
gamers and games, such that games offer an ‘emotional arousal’ to players who (for example) suffer
from a lack of excitement in their lives. He also noted that people with a hard or busy life may utilise
games to suit their emotional needs by releasing their frustrations in first person shooter games, or
relaxing by exploring aesthetically detailed environments.19
A connection between emotions and games was identified in a study by Emri and Mayra (2005). They
found that parents were worried that their children were spending so much time playing games that
they became "emotionally too intensely immersed".5
Total immersion
Lindley and Nacke (2008) summarised the final stage of immersion as, “a state facilitated by feelings
of empathy and atmosphere, which links immersion to factors of graphics, plot and sounds in addition
to emergent gameplay”.14
Browns and Cairns (2004) identified the final stage of immersion in their study as ‘total’ immersion,
which is further identified as ‘presence’. According to them, one gamer described this as follows: 1
“You feel as you are really there and you are no longer part of reality and the game was all
that [matters].”
The barriers that must be overcome for a player to feel totally immersed in a game are identified as
follows:
• Empathy: this is different to attachment because a player can feel attached to certain characters
or team members but may not empathise with their situation; and
• Atmosphere: this is composed of the same elements of game construction, a combination of

graphics, sound and plot. (It is important to note that atmosphere is different from game
construction through relevance; the features of the game must be relevant to the actions that
the game characters make and to the location of the character.)

Furthermore, Brown and Cairns (2004) stated that atmosphere is needed to retain the player’s
attention. For example, if a player has to react to a sound or a sight, then more effort will be needed.
To become more immersed, a gamer must invest more attention and effort than before. This is
achieved by the gamer making use of the elements of attention (visual, audio and mental). However,
Harig (2012) held a different view on total immersion. He suggested that a person can never actually
be totally immersed in a game because the player and the game are ultimately still separate. An
example of this is when a player's avatar improves its skills in the game and the actual player does
not automatically gain this skill in real life. Brown and Cairns (op cit) reiterated that total immersion is
achieved by utilising all the elements of attention, as listed above.1,20
Ermi and Mayra (2005) found similar results in their study when they identified three different forms of
immersion: 5
1: Challenge-based
This was described as a feeling of immersion that is at its greatest when a player is able to achieve a
satisfying balance of abilities and challenges. Challenges can be split into two categories: (i) motor
skills; and (ii) mental skills. Game challenges usually involve both sets of skills.
Ermi and Mayra (2005) found that children playing the games would (i) analyse the way that the
challenges were incorporated; (ii) find pleasure in successfully completing challenges and moving on
through the game; and (iii) that they also enjoyed the suspense of not knowing what was coming next.
The researchers also suggested that the challenges found in the gameplay could be split into two
different categories: (i) sensorimotor abilities (which include using the controller and fast reactions);
and, (ii) cognitive challenges. They noted that the children seemed to avoid the puzzle games, but
enjoyed games where problem solving was an important part of the gameplay.5
2: Imaginative
Ermi and Mayra (2005) described imaginative immersion as “offering the players the experience of
the game and the opportunity to use their imagination to enjoy the fantasy of the game or empathise
with particular characters”. They identified that children thought that imagination and fantasy were a
key element of many games. The children mentioned that the characters, story and world were all
important features of the games that made them more enjoyable. The children particularly enjoyed
playing in an imaginary world because they were able to do things that they could not or would not be
allowed to do in the real world (e.g. attacking policemen, driving and living in a house without adults).5
3: Sensory
Sensory immersion is the third type of immersion that was identified in Ermi and Mayra's (2005) study.
They suggested that sensory immersion is related to the audio and visual elements of the game.
Audio and visual immersion is a feature of many games that even less experienced novice gamers
and parents were able to recognise, as they suggested that newer video games are impressive (both
audibly and graphically) and have further evolved into the 3D and stereophonic worlds. Through the
use of large screens and overpowering sounds, the player can become more focused on the game
and therefore more immersed.5
However, McMahan (2003) stated that several scientists and scholars believed total photo and audio
realism is not necessarily required for a game or virtual environment to produce a sense of immersion
for the viewer.12

Hou et al (2011) carried out a study to investigate the effects of screen size on player immersion and
their gameplay experience. In the study, 30 people played a game on two different screens at
different sizes. The first screen was only 12.7 inches wide, whereas the second screen was 81
inches wide. They found that screen size had an effect on the players’ sense of physical presence,
self-presence, impression on the game characters and mood. Players of the game experienced a
greater sense of presence in front of the larger screen. When analysing the results for how immersed
the players felt, it was found that immersive tendency affected the players feeling of presence
significantly. People who are more engaged with digital media were found to be more easily
immersed than others.21
Video game developers persist in making their games more realistic by use of audio and graphics
despite the fact that some experts have suggested that audio and visual elements do not make a
game more immersive. However, Lipscomb and Zenhder (2004) stated that music in video games
can help increase a player's sense of immersion.22
Grimshaw et al (2005) investigated the potential of sound as tool of immersion by analysing data
gathered from a group of players who played the same level of a game on four separate occasions
with different sound modalities: (i) sound effects and music; (ii) sound effects and no music; (iii) no
sound effects and music; and, (iv) no sound and no music. They found that music appeared to
generate an increase in the feeling of immersion, and also a decrease in tension and negative
feelings; however, these sensations reduced the flow within the game. They also noted that that some
players initially thought that the inclusion of sound effects in a particular level of the game was very
important; but after playing the game without any sound effects or music, the players claimed that the
sound effects were distracting. It should also be noted that 75% of the players claimed that they
missed the sound effects when playing the level with just music.10
A similar, and more recent, study into the effects of audio in location-based games by Kurczak et al
(2011) found that ambient audio in the game reduced the players performance in the game but
increased their sense of immersion. One participant in this study claimed that, "If there was some
random rustling of leaves in the background that was not related to the animals but just happened to
be there, I probably would have found it more immersive.” Their studies showed that audio has some
impact on the player's gameplay experience, although it may increase or reduce their sense of
immersion.23
Investigations have been conducted into areas such as motion control, and audio as a tool of
immersion. Manuel et al (2012) investigated immersion through motion tracking and stereo audio
reproduction. They created a system that allowed a user to navigate through a room using a virtual
soundscape and motion traction. They identified that new technologies have allowed game
developers to improve in-game audio and make them more immersive. Each participant played the
game in which they had to find a secret passcode hidden among the audio using both the Kinect
motion controller and a more traditional analogue controller. They concluded from their results that
participants felt more immersed using the motion controller and that they would have preferred the
use of 5.1 surround sound. Despite this, their results showed that a stereo configuration of
loudspeakers created a more immersive environment.24
3: Research design
A prototype game was created. This incorporated different aspects of audio, and its ability to immerse
a player through the use of audio was analysed. Prior to testing the prototype game, three different
research methodologies were investigated:

3.1: Quantitative research
Quantitative research is based on numbers and facts. The most common ways for data to be
gathered using quantitative research is by using either a questionnaire or a survey. Cresswell (1994)
defined quantitative research as “an approach in which the person carrying out the research uses
their knowledge and skills to investigate the chosen area using techniques such as experiments,
surveys and collecting other data using similar techniques that gather empirical statistic data”.
Trochim and Donnely (2008) simply defined quantitative data as “any data that is gathered in
numerical form”.25,26
Studies using quantitative methods
There are many studies which include quantitative research methods to gather data and information
on immersion in video games. One such study was a survey carried out by Fu et al (2009) to
investigate the level of enjoyment that users felt when playing e-learning games. The survey was
used to measure eight different factors of the game (concentration; goal clarity; feedback; challenge;
autonomy; immersion; social interaction; and, knowledge Improvement). The surveys were
distributed online via e-mail, handed out to people, or sent by post. Out of the 502 students to whom
the survey was sent, 166 responses were collected (a 33% response rate).27
These authors listed the key points to consider when creating a survey: 27
• the researcher must consider the content of the survey;

• the researcher must think about how he/she is going to distribute the survey; and
• the researcher must consider how to analyse the data that is returned from the survey.
Advantages and disadvantages of online surveys
Fricker and Schonlau (2002) reported that internet surveys can be faster and cheaper than traditional
methods of distribution. An internet survey can be easily distributed by email in a matter of minutes.
Secondly, internet surveys are much cheaper than other methods. Nowadays, services such as
Surveymonkey.com allow users to create online surveys and questionnaires for free. However, the
number of questions in each survey is restricted, and if the user wants to include more questions then
he/she has to pay a subscription for these enhanced services.28
Fricker and Schonlau (2002) also found some disadvantages of using internet surveys: 28
• Low response: responses were poor for internet surveys. One possible reason for the low
number of responses may be because online surveys are less personal (and so many people
will simply ignore or delete the emails); whereas if someone is asked by a researcher face-to-
face to complete a survey, he/she is more likely to complete it there and then.
• Effort: online surveys require more work from the person being surveyed, e.g. scrolling back and
forward between questions; validating input; using passwords; and formulating questions where
answers are not optional.

Sills and Song (2002) identified several similar disadvantages of using online surveys, including: 29
• Low response rates (as previously mentioned);
• A lack of generalization: this problem can occur when distributing surveys using other methods;
questions might be too specific or confusing for some of the participants and as such they might
not understand the question and give a random answer; and,
• A lack of validity and reliability: if the questions are difficult to understand, then this will affect the
results, and it could also deter people from answering any further questions.
Sills and Song (2002) also mentioned that there are a range of technical problems to take into
consideration in the design and implementation of an on-line survey, including multiple computer
platforms, browsers and poorly written software. There is an increasing range of new devices
(particularly mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets) that have different screen sizes and
resolutions. Images, videos or games might be displayed correctly on one platform but not on
another; some devices might not display the content at all (e.g. AdobeFlashTM games on certain
mobile devices). There is also the concern that the server (where the researcher’s particular survey is
being hosted) could crash.29
3.2: Qualitative Research
Qualitative research concerns people’s emotions and feelings. Qualitative research is most
commonly carried out via interviews, focus groups, observations and case studies. Interviews can be
broken down into three different types: (i) informal; (ii) open-ended interviews; and (iii) fixed response
interviews. Cresswell (1994) defined qualitative research as “an approach to research in which the
investigator bases their findings on the perspective of other individuals”. Techniques used to gather
the information include: (i) narratives; (ii) phenomenology; (iii) grounded theory studies; and (iv) case
studies. The information gathered is examined and used to develop ideas and theories.25
Studies that use qualitative research
Interviewing is the most common type of qualitative research method. One such study was carried out
by Wan and Chiou (2006). Semi-structured interviews were used alongside sentence completion tests
to investigate why adolescents become addicted to online video games. Each interview was carried
out individually by a trained researcher. The interviews varied in duration from 50 to 150 minutes.
The purpose of using the interviews was to gather self-reported verbal data first-hand from the
participants in order to obtain detailed information on the causes of online gaming addiction. The
interview questions were split into four different categories: (i) surface motivation; (ii) in-depth
motivation; (iii) self-conception; and (iv) interpersonal relationships in the real world. The participants
were asked a total of 17 questions.30
During the sentence completion part of the interview, the participants completed the partial sentences
given to them by the researcher. By using this particular qualitative method of research, Wan and
Chiou gained a more in-depth understanding of the participant.30
The results gathered from the interviews were analysed by developing different themes according to
the original objectives of the study and explanations were then generated to identify the motivations of
the players.

Advantages and disadvantages of Qualitative Research
A lack of reliability and validity are two causes for concern within quantitative research; that the same
problems also affect qualitative research has been demonstrated by Golafshani (2003).31
In another paper Golafshani (ibid) mentioned that there is widespread debate over the reliability and
validity of qualitative research; some researchers have argued that the concept of reliability is not
applicable to qualitative data and that caution is necessary when validating qualitative data. A
potential reason for this could be the fact that there is no definitive definition of validity in qualitative
research.31
There are ethical issues associated with qualitative research (namely interviews), as explained by
DiCicco-Bloom and Crabtree (2006). In their study four different ethical issues were identified: 32
• Reducing the risk of unanticipated harm: During interviews with willing participants, there is the
risk of the interviewer becoming so involved with the interviewee that he/she starts to express
his/her own personal views and opinions, and this could make the interviewee uncomfortable
and lead to unprofessional behaviour by the interviewer, e.g. the interviewee gives an answer
that conflicts with the interviewer's personal beliefs, resulting in friction between the two
persons.
• Data Protection: The participant’s information must be protected, and the information gathered
from interviews should remain private, confidential and anonymous, as participants might
provide information that could be harmful to others or indeed to themselves.
• Effectively informing the participants about the nature of the study: Participants should be
provided with all the relevant information about the study before they agree to take part. All
participants should complete either a consent form or give clear verbal consent that they wish to
take part in the study. During the interview session, participants should also be allowed to walk
away or give no comment at any given time for any reason.
• Reducing the risk of exploitation: The fourth and final ethical issue identified is reducing the risk
of exploitation the participants of the study should be in no way exploited during the interview
process.
DiCicco-Bloom and Crabtree (2006) also identified some technical issues in their study that should be
noted when conducting interviews: 32
• Recording method: some researchers will use traditional methods such as using pen and paper
to make notes during the interview; whilst others will decide to use more technical methods such
as audio or video recording. Not all participants will feel comfortable with an interviewer using
audio-recording equipment.
• Data transcription: it can be difficult to transcribe tape and video recordings as the transcribers
might have difficulty understanding the full meaning behind what the participant said, and could
be tempted to make “judgement calls”.

• Software problems: as previously mentioned, there are a number of risks in using software
during research, including software crashes; incompatible hardware; and the risk that any data
collected can be deleted, or accidentally erased or overwritten.
3.3: Mixed method research
Mixed methodologies contain both quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Bryman (2006)
reported that mixed method research has become increasingly popular, and an important method of
research in its own right. Bryman also found that most common research methods used when mixing
quantitative and qualitative data included: (i) semi-structured interviews; (ii) self-administered
questionnaires; and (iii) structured interviews. Less common research techniques included: (i)
language based analysis; (ii) unstructured interviews; and, (iii) structured observation.33
Cresswell (1994) defined mixed method research as an approach where the investigator tends to
base theories on data gathered by employing both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The
data gathered involves gathering numeric data, e.g. surveys or questionnaires; or through written
information, e.g. interviews.25
Problems with using Mixed Methods research
As with quantitative and qualitative research, there are different factors to consider before choosing
mixed methods to carry out research. One concern was identified by Yin (2006) who suggested that
combining quantitative research with quantitative research could prove difficult and that researchers
could end up with two parallel investigations instead of one integrated study. Johnson et al (2007)
identified 11 important issues about using mixed method research methods:34,35
1. Can researchers and methodologists reach an agreement about what stage in the
research process mixed methods should occur?
2. What strategies are most effective for different stages in the research process?
3. What scientific philosophy will best partner mixed method research?
4. Are there particular sets of philosophical and methodological positions required for
mixed method research?
5. Is it possible to have equal balance of both quantitative and qualitative research in the
study?
6. Are there issues with the credibility and reliability of mixed methods?
7. How could studies that are more quantitative based, qualitative based or equal status
be more differentiated from each other?
8. Is there a full contingency theory for the conduct of human research?
9. A better definition of mixed method research might include a reference to the logic
behind using mixed methods as method of research.
10. Will a typology for mixed methods ever be created that can be broadly agreed upon?

11. How can mixed method research be branched out?
There is also debate as to what style of research should comprise the majority of the mixed method
study, i.e. should the study be mainly quantitative in nature based on preliminary qualitative results or
vice versa? Similar doubts about mixed method research were raised by Driscoll et al (2007), who
suggested that mixed method research incorporates all the same problems inherent in both
quantitative and qualitative approaches.36
4: Chosen research method
It was decided to use a quantitative research method to gather the data for this study into the effect of
audio on player immersion. A survey was chosen as the primary research method, as it allowed
participants to quickly and efficiently describe their thoughts and feelings on the prototype online
game which was created as part of this study. The survey was created online at Surveymonkey.com,
which in turn allowed the user to quickly and easily create a fully interactive survey. For this particular
study, the URL to the survey was included within the prototype game, so that the participants could
easily find and complete the survey after playing the game.
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of audio on player immersion. The survey was used
to analyse a prototype game based on its ability to immersegive a player an immersive game-playing
experience. The survey combined with the game aimed to give a better understanding of what effect,
if any, audio had on player immersion (including what aspect of the audio the player found more
immersive, e.g. background music, sound effects or both). The survey was also designed in an effort
to find out if some people found the game more immersive than others (e.g., a casual gamer might
feel more immersed than a hard-core gamer). Another purpose of the survey was to investigate how
immersive the game was at different levels.
The survey was distributed via email to all 109 students currently enrolled in the computing honours
project at the University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, during the 2012/13 session.
The online survey contained 10 carefully chosen questions within two different sections. For the first
section, the user provided basic information about themselves and their gaming habits:
1. Are you male or female?
This is a basic question used in many surveys and questionnaires.
2. What is your age?
Another basic question that is found in most surveys as researchers often want to examine which
age group participated most in the survey and what patterns develop between different age
groups.
3. How often do you play videogames in a week?
People who play video games more often might feel less immersed in the game than people who
play videogames less often, due to the fact that they are more used to playing games.
4. Do you have any hearing problems?

People with hearing problems are less likely to feel immersed in a game that has been specifically
designed to make use of audio in gameplay.
5. What sound system would you prefer to use to play a game?
Answers to this question may provide an understanding of what sound systems certain people
prefer to use when playing video games.
The next section of the survey concerned the immersive properties of the prototype game. The five
questions featured in this section of the survey were as follows:
6. How important do you feel sound is in a game?
This was ranked on a 5-point scale, from 1 (not very important) to 5 (extremely important).
Answers to this question will give an indication of whether or not participants felt that sound is an
important aspect of video games, before they continued on to complete the rest of the sound-
based questions.
7. How immersive was the background music in the game?
The participants stated how immersive they thought the background music was, using a 5 point
scale, from 1 (not very immersive) to 5 (extremely immersive).
8. How immersive were the sound effects in the game?
The participants stated how immersive they thought the sound effects were, again using a 5 point
scale, from 1 (not very immersive) to 5 (extremely immersive).
9. How much did the levels without sound bother you?
Participants ranked these using a 5-point scale, from 1 ( not very bothered) to 5 (extremely
bothered). Answers to this question might indicate how much the participants missed the sounds
and music after playing with them.
10. What level in the game did you prefer?
The final question asked the participants to state what level they thought was the best in the
game.
5: Creation of the online game prototype
The prototype game was created using Adobe Flash CS6TM and coded in Actionscript 3TM. (These
programs were chosen since the the author had previous experience with them; advanced features
were implemented into the game, and errors could easily be identified and fixed.)
5.1: The first prototype

This was a simple application that played background music. This is a basic example of audio
features in Adobe FlashTM but was also one of the key features as background music was present in
nearly every game developed. A sound clip was first imported into the Adobe FlashTM document. A
sound class had to be created in order to play the sound. Once a sound class was created and linked
to the sound clip, the sound class was instructed play the sound. The main code for this prototype
was:
var myMusic:Sound = new MySoundClip();

myMusic.play();
5.2: The second prototype
This was similar to the first, but, instead of having the sound imported to Adobe FlashTM file, it was
loaded externally. This was achieved by adding an extra line of code that loaded the sound file from
the same folder as the Adobe FlashTM file. The main code for this prototype was:
var mySound:Sound = new Sound();

mySound.load(new URLRequest("myFavSong.mp3"));
mySound.play();
5.3: The third prototype
The final prototype that was created incorporated different sounds into the Adobe FlashTM game. The
purpose was to demonstrate how different sounds can be used when creating a game. In this
example the user was presented with several different buttons that when pressed will play a sound.
The sound clips were loaded externally (as previously mentioned for the second prototype). However,
the code to play the sound was omitted. Once the sounds had been loaded, four different buttons
were created that would play a different sound when played. An event listener was added to each
button that ‘listened’ for a user interaction and then the code to play each individual sound was added.
5.4: The game
Once these prototypes had been developed, the next stage was to create a game that incorporated
sound into gameplay to make it more interactive (but which could also be played without sounds). It
was decided to make the prototype a horror/spooky game which would justify the use of sounds and
music in a game that would hopefully immerse the player.
Game concept
In the game, the player had to use a torch to find a ghost hiding somewhere on the screen. The ghost
would make a wailing noise and the closer the player’s torch light got to the ghost, the louder the
noise. (It was hoped that this would add a sense of immersion to the game.) Some background music
to the game was implemented; the music was spooky and mysterious, in order to help immerse the
player in the game. Before implementing the game in Adobe FlashTM, some concept screens where
created for the game. An example of the early concept art for the prototype game is shown in Figure
1:

Figure 1: early game concept
The main objective of the game was to use sound as a tool to find the ghost. The game could be
played without sound, but was better with sound effects and background music. Since the design of
this project was based on Grimshaw et al's (2005) study (which examined audio immersion in first
person shooters), the prototype game was designed to meet certain criteria. In a later stage of their
investigation, Grimshaw et al (2005) used a questionnaire to find out how immersive a game was after
the participants had played the game under four different sound modalities.10
In the prototype game created for this project there were four different levels which corresponded to
four different sound modalities. The first level of the game was designed to feature all the audio files
that were used in the game, including the background music and the sound effects made by the ghost
in the game. The first level was an ideal game,with (i) sound effects created by the ghost so that the
players used the sound to navigate the torch around the black screen to find the ghost; and (ii)
background music to immerse the player further.
Game sounds
The background music for the game was sourced from a royalty free website
(www.incomputech.com); this was spooky/horror music, but which was neither ‘quirky’ nor ‘catchy’ (so
as to not distract the player from the sound effects created by the ghost). Once a suitable music track
had been chosen, it was added to the game by importing it to the AdobeFlashTM file beforehand so
that the sound was played internally. The basic Actionscript 3TM code was used to play the sound
when the level had begun. Once the background music was working, the ghost was created and
added to the screen, together with the necessary sound effects.
The ghost sprite
The ghost was designed to be a static sprite on the screen that when touched by the torch light would
randomly move to a new position on the screen. The ghost sprite was created in Adobe FlashTM as a
2D image sprite to look like a cartoon style ghost, and the background image for the game was also
created in a similar way. As mentioned previously in the literature review, the use of graphics as a
tool for immersing players has been widely debated, and therefore it was decided that the graphic
style for this game would be kept simple (so that the focus on immersion was on audio and not
graphics). The ghost appeared on the screen at random locations, and when touched by the torch, it

disappeared and moved to another location, and the player was awarded one point. Once the player
scored five points, the game moved to the next level and sound environment.
By using basic trigonometry to calculate the player’s position and distance from the ghost, the
distance calculated was used to determine the volume of the sound produced by the ghost.
After combining all the features of the game together a working prototype game was created that
made use of background music and interactive sound effects in gameplay.
Final preparations
The other levels in the game were created using the same basic code, but without certain sounds:
• the second level of the game was the same as the first level, but without the background
music;
• the third level was again the same as the first level, but without sound effects; and,
• the last level of the game featured was without either background music or sound effects.
6: Results
The survey and game were uploaded to a website and the URL links were sent via email to 109
students who were enrolled in the computing honours project module at The University of the West of
Scotland, Paisley. These students were studying computer games development, computer games
technology and computer networking. A total of 30 responses were collected.
6.1: Section one - results
Of the 30 responses that were collected, 22 (73.33%) respondents were male, and 8 (26.67%) were
female. More than half (16) were aged between 18 and 24 years (53.33%); the next highest age
range (with 6 respondents, 20.00%) participants was 25 to 34 years, andthe third highest age range
was from ages 35 to 44 (4 respondents, 13.33%). The full range of participants and their respective
age groups is shown in Figure 2.
It was found that a large percentage (56.67%) of the participants played video games more than 3
times a week: 8 (26.67%) of the participants claimed to play video games every day of the week; and
9 (30.00%) of them claimed to play 3 to 5 days a week; 6 (20%) participants played only 1 to 2 days a
week; and 7 (23.33%) participants played less than one day a week.
Only 2 participants (6.67%) had hearing problems; 28 participants (93.33%) reported no hearing
problems.
In the fifth question for the first section of the survey, players were asked what sound system they
most enjoyed playing on. The most common method chosen was the use of stereo speakers (with 12
of the participants, or 46.15%) choosing this method: earphones and surround sound speakers both
received 7 votes each (26.92%). 4 participants choose to skip the question.

Figure 2: Age Ranges
6.2: Section 2 - results
Question 6
For the first question of this section, the players were asked to rank the importance of sound in a
game. The most common answer was 4 (very important), chosen by 14 participants (46.67%). The
second most common answer was 5 (extremely important) given by 10 of the participants (33.33%). 1
participant thought that sound was not very important (1); and the remaining 5 players thought that
sound was important (3). These results showed that almost all the participants (96.67%) felt that
sound is an important part of video games.
Question 7

Players were asked to rank how immersive the background music was in the game:
• 2 of the participants (6.67%) found the background music to be extremely immersive. It is

interesting to note that both these participants were male and both felt that sound was an
extremely important part of a game. Since these two participants played video games every day
of the week, it could be suggested that players who play videogames more often might feel
more immersed when they hear background music.
• 4 participants (13.33%) found the background music to be very immersive and (as with the
participants who found the background music to be extremely immersive), these participants
also felt that sound was an extremely important part of games.
• 16 participants (53.33%) found the background music to be immersive.
• 8 of the participants however thought that the background music wasn't immersive: 7 of them
(23.33%) chose option 2 (not immersive) and one participant found the background music to be
“not very immersive” (although this particular participant did have hearing problems).
Question 8
The participants were asked how immersive they thought the sound effects were:
• 2 participants (6.67%) thought that the sound effects in the game were extremely immersive.
• 11 participants (36.67%) considered the sound effects to be very immersive (by contrast, only 4
(13.33%) chose this option for background music).
• 10 participants (33.33%) found the sound effects to be immersive.
• 6 participants (20.00%) rated the sound effects as “not immersive” (similar to the 7 (23.33%)
who rated the background music as “not immersive”).
• 1 participant ranked the sound effects as “not very immersive”. This was the same participant
who thought the background music was not very immersive and who had a hearing problem.
Question 9
Participants were asked how much they felt bothered by the levels without sound and music:
• 4 of the participants (13.79) choose option 5 indicated they were “extremely bothered”.
• 8 participants indicated they were “very bothered”.
• Likewise, 8 participants (27.59%) indicated they felt “bothered”.
• 7 participants (24.14%) indicated they were “not bothered” (second-lowest ranking).
• 2 participants (6.90%) indicated they were “not bothered much”.
• 1 participant chose to skip the question.

Question 10
For the final question of the survey, the participants were asked to identify what level of the game they
preferred. 21 of the participants (70%) preferred the first level of the game which featured both sound
effects and music; 4 participants (13.33%) each chose option 2 (sound effects only) and option 3
(music effects only). 1 participant preferred the level with no sound effects or music. Figure 3 shows a
more detailed chart of preferred levels:
Figure 3: Preferred Levels
The results gathered from the survey suggested that the prototype game created was successful in
immersing players through the use of audio. Both the background music and the sound effects
features in the game were found to be immersive, although the sound effects were identified as being
more immersive than the background music. The majority of the participants who took part in the
investigation claimed that sound was an important aspect of games and most of them preferred to
play the game with both sound effects and background music. Despite the use of simple graphics and
easy non-trivial gameplay, some players became immersed in the game when audio was used.
7: Conclusions and recommendations

Academics and researchers are still debating the meaning of the term “immersion” and about what
causes a player to become immersed. There have been several studies into sound and its potential to
immerse players in a game. Some studies have shown that sound can be used as tool to immerse
players. Grimshaw et al (2008) have shown that a player can become immersed through the use of
audio. The same trend may have been confirmed in this project, as the results show that the
participants felt immersed in the prototype game through the use of audio.10
This study focussed on the use of two different kinds of sounds in a game. The results of the survey
suggest that interactive sound effects (in this case the sound effects that the ghost created) were
more immersive than background music. However, some participants considered the background
music to be immersive as well.
Researchers have also suggested that there are different levels of immersion, and that certain players
might feel more immersed than others. Likewise, some of the participants in this project felt more
immersed in the game than others. It is also interesting to note that some participants felt more
immersed under the influence of the background music than by the sound effects created by the
ghost; and vice versa, some participants felt more immersed in the game by use of the sound effects
rather than the background music.
In reference to the literature review, it was found in one particular study (by Manuel et al, 2012) that
participants felt more immersed when playing a game using a 5.1 surround sound system. However,
in this project only 7 (26.92%) of the participants preferred to play using surround sound speakers;
whereas nearly half of the participants, 12 (46.15%) choose stereo speakers as their preferred sound
system with which to play games.
The results from this short project indicated that players can be immersed through the use of audio
and that different applications of audio can induce different levels of immersion. However, several
other applications for sound should be researched and incorporated into a more advanced game,
which should be tested by several more participants, in order to gain a solid understanding of
immersion and its causes.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Jim Scullion for his help and support during this project, and to the
students who participated in the online game and survey.
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The Computer Games Journal 2(2) Lammas 2013

Audio immersion in games – a case study using an online game

Keywords: audio, immersion, video games, online survey, players

Received: June 2013

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2.2: The three levels of involvement

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• Atmosphere: this is composed of the same elements of game construction, a combination of

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3.1: Quantitative research

Studies using quantitative methods

• the researcher must consider the content of the survey;

Advantages and disadvantages of online surveys

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• Low response rates (as previously mentioned);

3.2: Qualitative Research

Studies that use qualitative research

Copyright of the author ©2013 110

Advantages and disadvantages of Qualitative Research

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3.3: Mixed method research

Problems with using Mixed Methods research

3. What scientific philosophy will best partner mixed method research?

8. Is there a full contingency theory for the conduct of human research?

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11. How can mixed method research be branched out?

4: Chosen research method

1. Are you male or female?

This is a basic question used in many surveys and questionnaires.

2. What is your age?

3. How often do you play videogames in a week?

4. Do you have any hearing problems?

Copyright of the author ©2013 113

5. What sound system would you prefer to use to play a game?

6. How important do you feel sound is in a game?

7. How immersive was the background music in the game?

8. How immersive were the sound effects in the game?

9. How much did the levels without sound bother you?

10. What level in the game did you prefer?

5: Creation of the online game prototype

5.1: The first prototype

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var myMusic:Sound = new MySoundClip();

5.2: The second prototype

var mySound:Sound = new Sound();

5.3: The third prototype

5.4: The game

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Figure 1: early game concept

The ghost sprite

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6.1: Section one - results

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Figure 2: Age Ranges

6.2: Section 2 - results

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• 2 of the participants (6.67%) found the background music to be extremely immersive. It is

• 16 participants (53.33%) found the background music to be immersive.

• 10 participants (33.33%) found the sound effects to be immersive.

• 8 participants indicated they were “very bothered”.