Enjoying My Time in the Animus: A Quantitative Survey on Perceived Realism and Enjoyment of Historical Video Games

This study investigates players’ perceived realism of historical video games. Perceived realism is understood as a multidimensional concept, going beyond the more traditional use of ‘realism’ in historical game studies, where it often refers to the plausibility or accuracy of historical reconstructions. The study further examines how perceived realism relates to players’ enjoyment of historical games. Specifically, this study analyses Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Through an online survey among 1,317 respondents, this study found that the five-dimensional structure of perceived realism holds for historical games. The three games differed in their perceptions of social realism, perceptual pervasiveness, freedom of choice and enjoyment. Finally, perceptual pervasiveness and character involvement were identified as strong predictors of enjoyment in historical games. This study contributes towards further validation of the perceived realism scale across game genres and pleads for a systematic use of the multidimensional term ‘realism’ in historical game research.