The impact of temperature on gaming productivity: evidence from online games

Abstract

This paper studies the short-run impacts of temperature on human performance in the computer-mediated environment using server logs of a popular online game in China. Taking advantage of the quasi-experiment of winter central heating policy in China, we distinguish the impacts of outdoor and indoor temperature and find that low temperatures below 5 • C decrease game performance significantly. Non-experienced players suffered larger performance drop than experienced ones. Access to central heating attenuates negative impacts of low outdoor temperatures on gamers' performance. High temperatures above 21 • C also lead to drops in game performance. We conclude that expanding the current central heating zone will bring an increase in human performance by approximately 4% in Shanghai and surrounding provinces in the winter. While often perceived as a leisure activity, online gaming requires intense engagement and the deployment of cognitive, social, and motor skills, which are also key skills for productive activities. Our results draw attention to potential damages of extreme temperature on human performance in the modern computer-mediated environment.We thank Robert M. Kunst (the Coordinating Editor) and the anonymous referees for their insightful comments, which have greatly improved the earlier version of this article. We are grateful to Jerome Adda, Alan Barreca, David Slusky, Jie Zheng, and seminar/conference participants from Xiamen University,

Perceived air quality and cognitive performance decrease at moderately raised indoor temperatures even when clothed for comfort

“…Elevated temperatures that caused thermal discomfort have been shown to produce measurable changes in physiological responses including higher sympathetic nervous system activity as indicated by the increased ratio of low‐frequency power to high‐frequency power (LF/HF) of measured heart rate variability (HRV) 1‐3 . It is also well documented that increased temperatures and thermal discomfort can result in acute subclinical health symptoms such as headache, fatigue, and difficulty in concentrating 1,4,5 and that they can negatively affect the cognitive performance of both adults performing office‐like type of work and children performing schoolwork 3,6‐12 . Heat stress has additionally been shown to cause a significant decline in the performance of attention‐demanding tasks 13 …”

Fierce Heat and Players’ Health: Examining the View on Japan High School Baseball

“…An increase in temperature has a detrimental effect not only on agricultural productivity [49], but also on manufacturing labor productivity [35,36], and years of high temperatures are associated with a lower economic output in developing countries, which can be explained by reduced worker productivity and increased absenteeism on hot days [29]. High temperatures >21 • C lead to drops in online game performance [50]. Online gaming requires intense engagement and the deployment of cognitive skills, which are key factors in other productive activities.…”

Fierce Heat and Players’ Health: Examining the View on Japan High School Baseball

“…An increase in temperature has a detrimental effect not only on agricultural productivity [39], but also on manufacturing labor productivity [35], [36], and years of high temperatures are associated with lower economic output in developing countries, which can be explained by reduced worker productivity and increased absenteeism on hot days [19]. High temperatures >21°C lead to drops in online game performance [40]. Online gaming requires intense engagement and the deployment of cognitive skills, which are key factors in other productive activities.…”