Individualized Communal Experience: Players of Detroit: Become Human

Abstract

I argue that digital interactive fiction – narratives that evolve in response to viewer choices – represents a distinct form of narration and participant engagement that leads to a seemingly paradoxical communal immersion experience. In this paper, I used an online survey with qualitative and quantitative items to study the reception of Quantic Dream’s Detroit: Become Human. I ask: which factors contribute to immersion and drive choice-making in a branching narrative? Which elements affect the replay value? I show that this game promotes high immersion through players’ agency. It also allows for a seemingly paradoxical individualized communal experience leading to replay to explore the different narrative paths. Finally, it promotes imbalanced empathy for the different protagonists.