The reasons for motivation of students studying at the faculty of sport sciences towards digital games within the scope of e-sports and the examination of the gains obtained from these games

The aim of this study is to examine the reasons and gains of students studying at the faculty of sport sciences towards digital games. The current study was designed in a phenomenological design from qualitative research models. Criterion sampling method, one of the purposeful sampling methods, was used to determine the research group. The criteria for the inclusion of the participants in the research group were determined as being a recent university student and playing digital games regularly for the last five years. A semi-structured interview form created by the researcher was used to collect data in the study. In the interview form, it was requested to convey the reasons for turning to digital games and the gains obtained from digital games. The interviews were conducted with the participants in different environments. The duration of the interview varied according to the participants. The interview duration was determined to be approximately 30 minutes. Content analysis method was applied to analyze the data. According to the results of the content analysis, the research data had different contents in five different themes. These themes were evaluated as socializing, desire to learn new things, stress relief, economic reasons and desire to spend leisure time. As a result, it was concluded that the students studying at the Faculty of Sport Sciences turned to digital games for different reasons and the gains they obtained from the games were an important motivating factor for playing digital games.