An analysis of online match-based games

Abstract

Abstract-Online match-based games, such as the online versions of the board game of chess, have already captured a global audience of tens of millions of players. Through a unique combination of characteristics, a relatively short durationoften "coffee-break" minutes instead of hours of continuous gameplay-, weak correlation between matches, and clear emphasis on winning, match-based games may serve a unique segment of the global player population. Although this segment of the gaming population may later become consumers of more sophisticated Massively Multiuser Virtual Environment (MMVE) systems, few previous studies have focused on the characteristics of online match-based games. Complementing them, in this work we collect and analyze information corresponding to 5 online match-based game datasets, totaling over 170 million matches played by a population of 1.3 million unique gamers over 14 years. Our analysis focuses on workload characteristics, win ratio, and player evolution. Studies such as ours may guide the multi-disciplinary field of MMVE design by providing new understanding of player lifetime and behavior. For example, we find a correlation between the interactivity of match-based games and the retention of players over both long and short term, that friendship does not always help to perform better in games, and that in match-based games each player explores tens of different play strategies over time.

More than skills: A novel matching proposal for multiplayer video games

“…A key contribution of this research is the design of a novel 'nested matching' approach with the goal of maximizing player retention at the level of the gameplay round. Through the use of a detailed and large-scale dataset, our findings significantly extend the literature on consumer engagement with multiplayer video game experiences [32] and on matching in multiplayer games [33,26,10], which until now has only partially examined the preferences and attributes of players when considering optimal approaches to matching and team composition. When developing our nested matching procedure, we identify a number of player and gameplay traits (i.e.…”

“…The matching of a new player to rounds on the basis of her skill level is in line with the existing literature on matching in multiplayer games [10,8,9]. However, our approach differs significantly from other studies given our use of skill level matching only as a filtering mechanism by which to find the broad 'skill group' or set of rounds where the skill level of the opponents is similar to the player's own.…”

“…To enhance a player's game experience, various studies have therefore suggested that "best fitted" game rounds should contain similarly skilled players [8,9]. For example, various studies argue that to balance the game and thus create a challenging, nonfrustrating experience, the probability of winning should be equal for all players [9,10]. Véron supports this argument, suggesting that different skill levels would lead to monotonous game sessions due to the superiority of one team [11].…”

“…We do this by forming homogenous groups of players not only according to their skill levels but also to their attributes. Therefore, our matching algorithm is unique in comparison with others used elsewhere in the literature that mainly focuses on 'skill level matching' and fail to either use a multi-step approach or to incorporate simultaneously different elements of player skill and other attributes [9,8,10].…”

Understanding and recommending play relationships in online social gaming

“…Online social games such as Defense of the Ancients (DotA) and League of Legends are each played by tens of millions of gamers. The game is fragmented into hundreds of thousands of non-communicating instances (matches [1]), and groups of only about ten players are involved in any instance of the game at any one time. Players can find partners for a game instance through the use of community web sites and online tools, which may include services that matchmake players to a game instance.…”