Gaze Behavior of Professional and Non-Professional eSports Players in FIFA 19

Abstract

In traditional sports like soccer or tennis, experts benefit from better anticipation abilities compared to novices through a more efficient gaze behavior. For electronic sports (eSports), this area is rather unexplored, although quick decision making, which is linked to gaze behavior, is considered fundamental in eSports. In this study, the gaze behavior of professional and non-professional eSports players (n=21, 23.4 ± 3.3 years) was recorded via eye-tracking in the sports simulation FIFA 19. Number, duration, and location of fixations were compared over an entire match and in offensive play situations. Except for fixation location, no significant differences were found. The players mainly fixated the same objectives regarding fixation number and duration, but professionals had significantly more fixations using the in-game radar and fixated off-ball teammates significantly shorter. Due to the limited results, gaze behavior does not seem to be a decisive factor for excellent performance in FIFA 19.

Professional Gaming and Pro-Gamers: What Do We Know So Far? A Systematic Review

“…Similarly, three studies (Bickman et al, 2020, 2021; Wechsler et al, 2021) found that pro-gamers perform better than non-professionals due to better hand-eye coordination, mental strength, response time, game knowledge, and tactical comprehension. However, Sousa et al (2020) observed that pro-gamers’ faster response times are marred by less accuracy and impulsiveness.…”

Esports experts have a wide gaze distribution and short gaze fixation duration: A focus on League of Legends players

“…After comparing the results of three research studies by Jeong et al [ 9 ], Bickmann et al [ 10 ], and Koposov et al [ 11 ], we found that various esports genres require specific gaze control strategies. However, the characteristics of gaze movement, especially fixation on the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA), remain unknown.…”

“…One research study that analyzed gaze movement during esports found out that highly skilled esports (real-time strategy games) players perform specific saccadic gaze movements [ 9 ]; however, that study did not evaluate the fixation characteristics present while playing esports. Additionally, the difference between the fixation gaze movement of professional esports players and non-professional esports players was compared by observing players of a soccer simulation video game called FIFA 19 [ 10 ]. Despite focusing on the fixation of gaze movement, no significant difference in the duration of the fixation time and the number of fixations of the professional esports players and non-professional esports players was observed.…”

“…The cognitive effects of esports and behavioral characteristics of esports players are unknown as well. It is possible that specific gaze movement is a key element involved in winning the game [9][10][11]. In this article, gaze movement refers to the movement of a visual pivot point.…”

The Development of Esports Research and Technology in the Last 3 Decades

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