遊戲開發專案之目標挑戰性與遊戲品質之影響：探索式創新vs.漸進式創新

The Impact of Goal Challenges on Game Quality in Game Development: Exploration vs. Exploitation

遊戲開發是一個高度創意性的產業，它面臨了動態的市場競爭環境，必須透過不斷地開發創新，以滿足市場的需求以及玩家的期待。本研究基於目標設置理論及相關創新文獻，探討探索式及漸進式創新、目標挑戰性對遊戲品質的影響。傳統認為在探索式創新的情境下對於遊戲品質產生正向的影響；而在漸進式的遊戲開發比較不利於遊戲品質的提升。本研究基於192 份遊戲開發專案發現：(1) 目標挑戰性對遊戲品質帶來正向的影響，進而提升遊戲市場績效；(2) 遊戲開發的目標挑戰性與漸進式創新的交互作用下，則能夠提升遊戲品質；然而，遊戲開發的目標挑戰性與探索式創新的交互作用下，反而對於遊戲品質則是負向的影響。學術與實務的意涵在文章中有詳細討論。

The game development industry requires high levels of creativity. To face the everchanging and competitive market environment, games development companies must constantly release innovative games to fulfill the market demand and gamer expectations. Based on goal setting theory and related innovation literature, this study examined the effect of exploration innovation, exploitation innovation, and goal difficulty on game quality. For this study, it was assumed that under exploration innovation, an overly difficult goal may face development constraints due to developing teams’ lack of ability to handle uncertainties; this negatively influences the developed game quality. By contrast, a challenging goal in exploitation innovation can enhance game quality and facilitate updating game contents that attract potential players. The study used a paired questionnaire to collect data. Analyzing 192 game development projects revealed that (1) challenging goals exert a positive influence on the developed game quality, thereby boosting the game’s market performance. (2) The interaction effect of exploitation innovation and challenging development goals will positively influence game quality, whereas the interaction effect of exploration innovation and challenging development goals will negatively influence game quality.