트랜스미디어 환경의 공포 경험 변화 연구: <워킹 데드> 스크린 기반 게임과 VR 게임의 비교 분석을 중심으로

This study examines how horror game experiences diverge and intensify according to the technological characteristics of media within a transmedia environment through a comparative analysis of screen-based games and VR games in The Walking Dead franchise. The research applies an integrated analytical framework combining Jenkins’ concept of transmedia expansion, Steuer’s theory of telepresence, and Murray’s notion of agency. The findings indicate that Telltale’s screen-based game functions as an ethical simulation fostering a guardian identity and vicarious guilt through narrative choices, whereas the VR game Saints & Sinners operates as a physical simulation establishing a predator identity and performative guilt through natural mapping and direct physical interaction. VR media reconfigures horror into an embodied experience by compelling players to physically enact the rules of the storyworld beyond audiovisual immersion. This study illuminates the process of experiential deepening in transmedia expansion, from cognitive participation to physical embodiment, and presents an integrated perspective bridging narrative, technology, and experience.