Investigating communication patterns for improving teamwork in digital games

EPSRC : Evelyn Tan : EP/L015846/1

Digital games are becoming an irreplaceable part of our culture. According to the 2019 Global Games Market Report, there are 2.5 billion gamers across the world and the global games industry is set to generate $152.1 billion in 2019. Some of the most popular digital games are team-based, for example League of Legends (Riot Games, 2009), Counter Strike: Global Offensive (Valve Corporation, 2012), Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment, 2016) and Dota 2 (Valve Corporation, 2013). These games have competitive leagues (termed 'esports') with prize pools exceeding $30 million. They are watched and played by millions. Players enjoy the high level of challenge and social interaction that team-based games afford. However, working together with others is not always an enjoyable experience. While teamwork is a core component of the game, it is difficult to achieve since players are typically placed in teams with strangers. This means that teams have no prior experience working together but the game requires close collaboration and effective coordination for success.

Team success depends on the rate in which players learn to work together. It also depends on the ability of the team to overcome negative events that can erode team morale. For example, it is common for players to blame each other when the team underperforms. Since constructs like trust and cohesion, which develop through prior experience and sustain teams during adversity, do not exist, players are susceptible to exhibit dysfunctional behaviours. This is known as 'toxic behaviour' and is a huge problem in the game community. According to Riot Games, a new player who encounters toxic behaviour in their first game is 320% less likely to return. Toxic behaviour not only reduces player retention but negatively affects players' mental well-being. Given the millions of people who spend hours on competitive team-based digital games daily, this is an important problem to solve.

This project proposes that teamwork can be facilitated through developing effective communication processes. Specifically, this project focuses on 'closed-loop communication', a type of coordination mechanism where it is made clear that a sent message has been received and understood. In new teams, it is important for players to make their behaviours predictable. Using closed-loop communication when coordinating an attack, for example, will enable players to ensure that their teammates share the same situation awareness and are committed to carrying out the attack. As a result, players would develop a greater sense of trust and cohesion, since they know that they can rely on their team. We suggest that by enabling better teamwork, toxic behaviour can be reduced.

To achieve this, this project will carry out a laboratory study to investigate the effect of closed-loop communication on team performance, cohesion and player satisfaction. Players will be placed in a team belonging to one of two groups: (1) the experimental group, where closed-loop communication is taught or (2) the control group, where no closed-loop communication is taught. Players will play a match and asked to complete a questionnaire on their subjective experiences. They will also be asked to go through the match replay to identify instances of effective teamwork.

Through this project, we can identify whether developing an effective communication process facilitates teamwork in new teams and leads to better performance and greater feelings of cohesion and satisfaction. Findings from this project can be used to inform design features that facilitate teamwork in new teams and can also be used to improve teamwork in teams outside of digital games.