Applying Thematic Analysis to Define an Awareness Interpretation for Collaborative Computer Games

Collaborative computer games have evolved from single-player to massively multiplayer games, usually involving collaboration to achieve team goals. As a consequence of such evolution, these players should be provided with feedback that enables them to perform collaborative tasks with other team members. The objective of this work is the analysis of current awareness interpretations in order to develop a new one that guides stakeholders while collect the needs of such games. This analysis has been conducted by means of a step-bystep Thematic Analysis of current interpretations that led us to extract the most relevant awareness elements defined in existing interpretations. This has resulted in the definition of Gamespace Awareness, a new interpretation based on a combination of the previously analyzed ones, which is suitable for collaborative computer games. Gamespace Awareness combines the potential awareness elements needed for collaborative computer games, making it possible to identify the awareness requirements of these games from the very beginning.