01896nas a2200133   4500000000100000000000100001008004100002100001800043700001400061245011000075856015200185490000700337520141800344                                       d1 aGuanning Wang1 aDelai Men00aUnderstanding continued use intention of digital intangible cultural heritage games through the SOR model  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105010009765&doi=10.1038%2Fs40494-025-01809-5&partnerID=40&md5=cdca09494ec57d15a844864d2ffaea2c0 v133 aDigital games have emerged as a popular method for disseminating intangible cultural heritage (ICH). However, research on the motivations driving continuous intention to play digital ICH games remains limited. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the factors influencing users’ continuous intention to play digital ICH games. We applied the SOR framework to investigate how two primary external stimuli-game factors and social factors-impact users’ hedonic and utilitarian perceptions. Furthermore, we analysed how these perceptions influence users’ continuous intention and assessed the moderating effects of cultural identity and value co-creation. With data collected from a survey of 338 gamers, the results revealed that both utilitarian and hedonic performance confirmations drive the use of digital ICH games. System quality and information quality exclusively influence utilitarian performance confirmation, while critical mass and social interaction positively influence both utilitarian and hedonic performance confirmations. Additionally, cultural identity positively moderates the relationships between utilitarian performance confirmation and continuous intention, as well as hedonic performance confirmation and continuous intention. The research highlighted the relative importance of specific factors, offering more profound insights into the continuous intention of digital ICH gamers.