A sociological research on the effects of the dijital game participants' created characters on the identity construction process: The case of Sims players

The main subject of this study is to understand how the avatar created in the game has an impact on the individual's identity construction. When creating an individual avatar, he gains an identity in the virtual world and transfers his self to the virtual universe. In this direction, it is essential to examine the relationship between avatar and identity for the thesis. The simulation that creates the virtual universe in the game allows you to change all the qualities that the player has along with his identity. The Sims 4 game, which offers a successful real-life simulation, has been selected as the game to be studied for this thesis. The aim of the research is to examine the effects of avatars created in the game on the identity building process. The research is a qualitative study. In line with all these explanations, interviews were conducted with 20 people who are participants of The Sims 4 game. In accordance with the in-depth interview interviews, the participant findings were examined by descriptive analysis method. It was found that the avatar created according to the participant's findings and the identity possessed in real life are related to each other. The life that players create in the virtual world that they artificially create in the game with simulation is really different. In a virtual world where there are no boundaries, players use the game as a tool as an act of asylum to this virtual world by moving away from their lives in real life.