On average, about 60% of female players (N = 312) and 16% of male players (N = 1592) play the game with a real-life romantic partner. The gender difference is expected and is a function of the ratio of men and women playing the game (about 5:1), although a small proportion may be attributed to same-sex romantic partners. Even so, knowing that up to 2/3’s of female players are not playing the game alone is important, because this probably influences their game-play patterns, and this has to be kept in mind when trying to explain gender differences in in-game data. The following graph plots the percentage of players who play with a RL romantic partner across gender and age groups.
And the following graph shows how frequently the respondents grouped with their romantic partner.
Respondents who played with a romantic partner were not more likely to spend more time playing the game, but they were more likely to indicate a greater willingness to stay with the game when compared with players who do not play the game with a romantic partner. When asked how long they projected themselves to continue playing the game, about 50% of players who play with romantic partners (N = 447) indicated they would continue playing the game indefinitely, while only 32% of players who do not play with a romantic partner (N = 1464) chose that option.
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