Does Streaming Esports Affect Players’ Behavior and Performance?

In this work, we analyze what effect streaming gameplay on Twitch has on players’ in-game behavior and performance. We hypothesized that streaming can act as a form of implicit incentive to boost players’ performance and engagement. To test this hypothesis, we continuously collected data about all T...

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Vydáno v:Games and culture Ročník 15; číslo 1; s. 9 - 31
Hlavní autoři: Matsui, Akira, Sapienza, Anna, Ferrara, Emilio
Médium: Journal Article
Jazyk:angličtina
Vydáno: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2020
Témata:
streaming
behavioral dynamics
esports
MOBA
league of legends
Twitch
ISSN:1555-4120, 1555-4139
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Abstract In this work, we analyze what effect streaming gameplay on Twitch has on players’ in-game behavior and performance. We hypothesized that streaming can act as a form of implicit incentive to boost players’ performance and engagement. To test this hypothesis, we continuously collected data about all Twitch streams related to a popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, League of Legends (LoL), and data of all LoL matches played during the same time frame, and cross-mapped the two data sets. We found that, counterintuitively, streaming significantly deteriorates players’ in-game performance: This may be due to the burden of carrying out two cognitively intensive activities at the same time, namely, playing the game and producing its commentary for streaming purposes. On the other hand, streaming increases engagement keeping players in significantly longer game sessions. We investigate these two effects further, to characterize how they vary upon individual characteristics.
AbstractList In this work, we analyze what effect streaming gameplay on Twitch has on players’ in-game behavior and performance. We hypothesized that streaming can act as a form of implicit incentive to boost players’ performance and engagement. To test this hypothesis, we continuously collected data about all Twitch streams related to a popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game, League of Legends (LoL), and data of all LoL matches played during the same time frame, and cross-mapped the two data sets. We found that, counterintuitively, streaming significantly deteriorates players’ in-game performance: This may be due to the burden of carrying out two cognitively intensive activities at the same time, namely, playing the game and producing its commentary for streaming purposes. On the other hand, streaming increases engagement keeping players in significantly longer game sessions. We investigate these two effects further, to characterize how they vary upon individual characteristics.
Author Matsui, Akira
Sapienza, Anna
Ferrara, Emilio
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Keywords streaming
behavioral dynamics
esports
MOBA
league of legends
Twitch
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