The Role of Technological Setup in Shaping a Satisfying User Experience in Mixed Reality Games: An Empirical Investigation

Mixed Reality (MR) games blend physical and digital realms to deliver immersive playful user experiences (UX), yet their user base remains small and processual understanding is limited. This study proposes and empirically validates a two-stage perspective of MR game UX, distinguishing between the instrumental stage (technological setup and preparation) and the experiential stage (in-game interaction and enjoyment). Using large-scale user data, we demonstrate that instrumental-stage perceptions, including facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, performance expectancy are necessary for overall satisfaction with the experiential stage (ESOS). Moreover, ESOS has a stronger impact on users’ recommendation intention and continuance intention to the MR game, compared with overall satisfaction with the instrumental stage (ISOS). ISOS and ESOS both play significant mediating roles across MR games’ UX journey. These findings provide theoretical contributions to the understanding of MR game engagement and offer practical implications for designing more engaging MR experiences.