Purpose – This study investigates how game design, which divides players into static teams, can reinforce
group polarisation. The authors study this phenomenon from the perspective of social identity in the context of
team-based location-based games, with a focus on game slang.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors performed an exploratory data analysis on an original
dataset of n 5 242,852 messages from five communication channels to find differences in game slang adoption
between three teams in the location-based augmented reality game Pokemon GO. A divisive word “jym” (i.e. a
Finnish slang derivative of the word “gym”) was discovered, and players’ attitudes towards the word were
further probed with a survey (n 5 185). Finally, selected participants (n 5 25) were interviewed in person to
discover any underlying reasons for the observed polarised attitudes.
Findings – The players’ teams were correlated with attitudes towards “jym”. Face-to-face interviews revealed
association of the word to a particular player subgroup and it being used with improper grammar as reasons
for the observed negative attitudes. Conflict over (virtual) territorial resources reinforced the polarisation.
Practical implications – Game design with static teams and inter-team conflict influences players’ social
and linguistic identity, which subsequently may result in divisive stratification among otherwise cooperative
or friendly player-base.
Originality/value – The presented multi-method study connecting linguistic and social stratification is a
novel approach to gaining insight on human social interactions, polarisation and group behaviour in the
context of location-based games.
Keywords Location-based games, Polarisation, Social identity theory, Language, Slang
Paper type Research paper