Serendipity in E-sport: Understanding How Complementary and Redundant Information from Robotic Game Companions Influence Game Satisfaction

Abstract

Robotic Game Companions (RGCs) are AI-driven non-player robots designed to enhance player experiences by delivering contextualized information in the context of multiplayer online battle arena games. Given that RGCs can deliver unsolicited information in real time, this study explores how complementary and redundant information provided by RGCs impacts game satisfaction through perceived serendipity, as well as the moderating role of perceived game performance. A scenario-based experiment with 272 participants reveals that (1) complementary information (vs. redundant information) of RGCs has a greater impact on both game satisfaction and perceived serendipity; (2) perceived serendipity fully mediates the effect of complementary information (vs. redundant information) on game satisfaction; (3) perceived game performance moderates the relationship between complementary information (vs. redundant information), perceived serendipity, and game satisfaction. Contributions to theory and practice are then discussed.