The Digital Romance Economy: Exploring the Role of Parasocial Relationships and Microtransactions in the Otome Game Player’s Information Landscape.

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Otome romance game players have a variety of motivations for playing the games they do, whether it be the storylines, specific characters, artwork, or another factor. This study focuses on the information needs of otome players and what motivates them to transition from free-to-play (F2P) to paid players. The research examines discussions in two otome game subreddits to understand the factors that drive this shift, including appealing character traits and other elements that attract players. I provide an overview of these games, player behaviors, and information needs by sampling online forums through a variety of keyword searches and analyzing the content of returned posts for significant themes, commonalities, and divergences. In so doing, I have synthesized information into two categories: emotional investment and spending motivations, including discussion of game design strategies, and user information needs, in order to gather a clearer understanding of how players are motivated to spend, as well as seek, evaluate, and share information related to in-game purchases.</span>