Preferences for cooperative, strategic, and story-driven video games are associated with a higher risk of hikikomori (extreme social withdrawal) among Japanese players, offering insights for game-based mental health interventions.
Author Countries: Japan
Funding: This work was supported by Google through a Google Research Scholar award (to Kongmeng Liew). No grant number was assigned. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. No authors received salary support from the funder.
Journal
PLOS Mental Health
Article Publication Date
29-Jul-2026
COI Statement
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Charlotte Bhaskar
PLOS
cbhaskar@plos.org
Journal
PLOS Mental Health
Article Publication Date
29-Jul-2026
COI Statement
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Cite Scienmag News
Ophelia Keating. (July 29, 2026). Preferences for cooperative, strategic, and story-driven video games are associated with a higher risk of hikikomori. Scienmag. https://scienmag.com/preferences-for-cooperative-strategic-and-story-driven-video-games-are-associated-with-a-higher-risk-of-hikikomori/
Ophelia Keating. "Preferences for cooperative, strategic, and story-driven video games are associated with a higher risk of hikikomori." Scienmag, 29 July 2026, https://scienmag.com/preferences-for-cooperative-strategic-and-story-driven-video-games-are-associated-with-a-higher-risk-of-hikikomori/. Accessed 6 September 2026.
Ophelia Keating. "Preferences for cooperative, strategic, and story-driven video games are associated with a higher risk of hikikomori." Scienmag. July 29, 2026. https://scienmag.com/preferences-for-cooperative-strategic-and-story-driven-video-games-are-associated-with-a-higher-risk-of-hikikomori/
