Das Gefühl der Leere nach Beendigung eines Videospiels (Post-Game-Depression) ist ein echtes Phänomen. Eine aktuelle Studie hat herausgefunden, dass viele Videospielspieler ein spezifisches Gefühl der Leere und Traurigkeit verspüren, nachdem sie hochinteressante Spiele beendet haben.
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Feeling empty after finishing a video game? Researchers say post-game depression is a real phenomenon
A recent study published in Current Psychology has found that many video game players experience a specific sense of emptiness and sadness after finishing highly engaging games. The research introduces a new psychological scale to measure this phenomenon, showing that post-game depression is linked to general depressive symptoms and difficulties in processing emotions. These findings offer new insights into how deeply immersive media can impact a person’s emotional well-being.
Video games are the third most popular leisure activity in the world. Modern video games are not solely designed to provide simple entertainment or pleasure. Many of these titles feature complex narratives that evoke deep emotions, existential reflection, and a profound sense of achievement.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12144-025-08515-2
For me it was shenmue on dreamcast, damn that one hit hard
I felt this after finishing Alan Wake 2. It was a whole mixture of feelings. Very similar to that shattering feeling after finishing a great book.
Absolutely a real thing, yeah.
Luckily it’s quite short term. A few days off from gaming and your brain will reset and you can go and enjoy other games.
Interestingly, social media can help mitigate those feelings for a while by providing you with communities you can engage with, to ride the high’s of pleasure you got from the game. Though it can extend those negative feelings too.
I genuinely had this after I finished persona 5 royal, I genuinely felt empty after I finished it. Didn’t help that it came out right when covid lockdowns started as well
I get the same feeling with books.
Red Dead Redemption 2
I knew someone once who named this feeling „kell.“ I think she used it for when you finish a book, but either way, that’s what I’ve always called it in my head since then.
I find finishing a game immediately satisfying until I realize now I need something new to play.
This happens with books, television series, games. I’ve had it from visual novels.
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Happens with books and TV shows as well
Last year I played Cyberpunk.2077, Expedition 33 and Spiritfarer for the first time… I’m still not ready to commit to a new game. Ball Pit is a blast, and is as emotionally draining as I’m prepared to handle for a bit.
Same with shows. I almost never seem to get around to finishing the last episode of shows. I guess subconsciously I’m avoiding that finality of a journey. That said, when I finished portal it was a cathartic happy experience.
Definitely felt this with Red Dead redemption 2. The epilogue kind of eased me out of it though. Couldn’t free roam and do stuff as much as earlier.
Title needs „… Unless the credits song is a banger,“ appended to the title. Phantom Liberty I am thinking of you.
It’s like one day new things stop happening in the world and everyone says the same 3 or 4 things on loop forever
I got that feeling from Firewatch. It is pretty emotional though.
Dragon age inquisition+trespasser DLC… the characters felt so alive I forgot it was a game
I felt the same going back home after vacation
Death Stranding did a number on me during the pandemic
I play since the end of the 70s. I also learnt very fast to avoid games that brought me down. I didn’t need to read about, there was no research on it. I learnt that if a game left me empty then it was time to change my expectations and attitude while playing that game or play something else. It worked.
I felt that way with Sonic 2, I don’t want to imagine how I would feel with today’s games.
Worst one for me was Red Dead Redemption 2.
The real strategy is never to finish games
Source: hundreds of unfinished singleplayer campaigns / stories
oh yeah, that really sucks, for me if the game or show was really good, and i was immersed in it, then it can take several days to get over it.
I spent 200 hours as a Rogue Trader. I miss my crewmates
How I feel after every rewatch of The Lord of the Rings (extended cuts, of course)
Thats why you play an online game that never ends, but then depression never ends either.
I get this which is probably why I always quit games before I finish them. Is that a phenomenon as well? Play 80% of a game realize I’m near the end then slowly but surely that game just falls out of my rotation. It’s still installed I see it on my desktop but I just won’t click it.
Wow. Almost like a sense of loss where there’s nothing to revert to in the real life. Pretty sure it’s called “depression”. No, you may not overcomplicate it for the kids.
probably your brain that got used to a high level of dopamine being sad to go back to normal levels
I have like a thousand or more hours on Mass Effect 3 alone. Idek how much I have in the previous games.
If I beat that trilogy again today I’d feel that sense of emptiness.
i get this with anything long that hits its end, tv series/animes, games, books etc
also after watching all of Schitts Creek
Cue ‚How am I Supposed to Live Without You‘ song by Michael Bolton
Finished Outer Wilds more than 5 years ago. When does it stop?
Not being able to replay Outer Wilds felt like a hole in my heart, at least I did vicariously experience it again through playthroughs and friends :,)
„The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse)”
I could have told you that.
This is the reason Gannon can safely assume he will control Hyrule Castle for many years to come
I was definitely depressed a couple weeks after beating silksong. I waited years and it was such an amazing experience that left me feeling amazed but also melancholic. Definitely relatable
I’ve gotten in a bad habit of not finishing games because of this. Same with TV shows