Scripted Role-Playing Games and Emotional Deficit among Contemporary Chinese Youth

Abstract

This article examines the rise of immersive entertainment in China, with a particular focus on live-action role-playing games (LARPs) and their commodification of emotional labor. The study aimed to explore how players experience and negotiate scripted intimacy within these games. Data were collected through ten unstructured interviews lasting 60–90 minutes, and thematic analysis was applied to identify recurring patterns in participants’ accounts. Findings show that players actively invest emotions to gain access to intense and scripted experiences unavailable in daily life. While most respondents distinguish between fictional and real interactions, some reported difficulty detaching from game-induced emotions, leading to psychological burdens. The analysis further reveals that the popularity of LARPs reflects a wider emotional deficit in contemporary Chinese society, where intimacy is increasingly mediated by commodified scripts. This research contributes to debates on emotional and affective labor by situating LARPs within the logic of capitalist commodification, highlighting both the cultural significance and the psychological risks of immersive entertainment.