LAUSR

Motivation crucially influences the willingness to play online games. Game motivation can affect players’ flow experience and player’s companionship with their game roles or avatars. However, the relationship among game motivation, flow experience, and companionship is unclear; therefore, designing online games that improving the playing experience is difficult. This study chose online pet games as study samples, and this study used a game motivation scale, flow experience scale, and the Companionship Scale of Artificial Pets to identify the relationship among game motivation, flow experience, and companionship. According to 216 valid questionnaire responses, this study demonstrated that (a) game motivation for online pet game players was primarily immersion and achievement, (b) compared with achievement motivation, immersion motivation had a greater influence on flow experience and the development of player companionship with online pets, and (c) players with immersion and achievement motivation had a substantially enhanced flow experience and companionship with their online pets.