Engagement in Multiplayer Online Gaming as Digitally Mediated Communication: Examining Social Interaction among Malaysian Young Adults

Despite the rapid growth of multiplayer online gaming worldwide, existing research has predominantly examined gaming from psychological and behavioural perspectives, with comparatively limited attention devoted to its role as a digitally mediated communication environment. This study investigates the relationship between engagement in multiplayer online gaming and social interaction among Malaysian young adults by conceptualising multiplayer online gaming as a form of digitally mediated communication behaviour. Guided by Uses and Gratifications Theory (UGT), a quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted among 385 Malaysian young adults with experience in multiplayer online gaming. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, simple linear regression, independent-samples t-tests, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings revealed a significant positive relationship between engagement in multiplayer online gaming and social interaction (r = .269, p < .001). Regression analysis further demonstrated that engagement in multiplayer online gaming significantly predicted social interaction (β = .269, p < .001), explaining 7.3% of the variance. Additional analyses identified significant differences in gaming engagement across gender and gaming platforms. The findings suggest that multiplayer online gaming extends beyond entertainment to function as a digitally mediated communication ecosystem where interpersonal interaction, collaboration, and relationship maintenance are embedded within gameplay. By reconceptualising engagement in multiplayer online gaming from a communication perspective, this study broadens the dominant discourse on digital gaming and contributes empirical evidence from Malaysia to the growing body of communication and media research on interactive digital environments.

Multiplayer online gaming; digitally mediated communication; social interaction; Uses and Gratifications Theory; Malaysian young adults

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