Player Agency Versus Player-Character

Abstract

The video game medium has greatly transformed traditional storytelling methods through its primary feature: interactivity. This thesis aims to analyse how player agency affects storytelling by examining its impact on character identity and attachment. It investigates what happens to a player character’s identity when their appearance, actions, and growth are controlled by the player, and how this control affects the player’s attachment to the character. Are players more attached to fully predefined characters or to partially predefined characters shaped by the players’ own preferences?

Drawing on theoretical perspectives from both literary and game studies—including Rita Felski’s attachment theory and Lee Sheldon’s model of the Three-Dimensional Character—a framework was developed to analyse identities of player-characters and the forms of attachment that manifest between players and player-characters. A survey of over 200 respondents was conducted, providing both qualitative and quantitative data for comparing attachment between the protagonists of Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.

The findings show player-character identity to be closely linked to attachment. When player agency supported the player-character’s identity, respondents experienced stronger emotional investment, higher engagement, and greater likability toward the player-character. In contrast, when player agency diminished the player-character’s identity to increase player freedom, respondents experienced weaker emotional investment, lower engagement, and reduced likability toward the player-character. While some forms of attachment were more prominent through a player’s increased agency over the player-character, the findings indicate that players’ attachment to player-character is significantly reduced when player agency undermines the player-character’s identity.