A study conducted by the University of Oxford in collaboration with FuturLab and PowerWash Simulator has found that 72% of players were likely to experience an uplift in mood during play sessions.

The report, which was published in the Games: Research and Practice Journal, analysed data from 8,695 players from 39 countries including the US, UK, Canada and Germany.

Respondents reported their well-being to researchers across 67,328 gaming sessions via a research edition of the game.

The results found that across the over 162,300 in-game reports submitted by players, on average those surveyed reported “a more positive mood during play than at the start of each session,” consistently during the first fifteen minutes of a play.

Researchers said the findings will aid in understanding how the short-term effects of playing video games can be beneficial for “mood-related interventions.” It may also support the ability to build a “theoretical foundation” for the long-term effects gaming sessions can have on mental health.

“At present, short-term changes in video game players’ moods are poorly understood,” said lead author Matti Vuorre, assistant professor at Tilburg University and research associate at Oxford Internet Institute.

“Gameplay research frequently relies on artificial stimuli, with games created or modified by academic researchers, typically played in a lab environment rather than a natural context. Instead, we wanted to know how real play in natural contexts might predict player mood on short timescales.”

Senior author and professor Andrew Przybylski of the Oxford Internet Institute added: “The fact that we only studied one game – and one that is not likely representative of today’s most commonly played games – suggests caution in generalising our findings to other games.

“Future work should consider the use of randomised controlled trials to evaluate the effect of playing PowerWash simulator or other games compared to other leisure activities or therapeutic interventions.”