eSports: Managing Competition With Network Latency Challenges : vTools Events (ieee.org)

Dr. Sky Kauweloa, Esports, University of Hawaii

For the global esports industry, the notion of a "fair and even playing field" in competitive video game play between teams located at vast distances from each other has been central to the immense growth and popularity of esports globally. However, in order to institute an environment where players feel that no other location holds a distinct advantage over other locations when it comes to the speed (measured in milliseconds) that data is transferred between geographic sites ("ping"), professional esports players often seek conditions in which they can exploit, save, or counter any perceived imbalances at which some players may have faster ping than others.  

In this presentation, Dr. Kauweloa will be exploring the controversies of ping (the network transmission of data measured as latency) through the experiences of the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UHM) esports program. The UH Esports program is home to 8 highly competitive collegiate esports varsity teams, all of whom play out of the university’s iLab. In order to be at peak performance, the players constantly seek ways of improving their network connections to game servers. Because of the geographic location of Hawai’i, however, there are limitations to what can be done to fully address, or significantly eliminate, the issue of latency for competitive players.

The popularity and visibility of the UH Esports program provide an interesting insight into the broader discussion of latency. Of course, the complexities around the speed at which data is moved between locations are not just a problem for highly competitive “gamers,” but touch on issues far broader: the execution of services with real-time internet applications, mobile user experiences, and perceptions within augmented reality spaces. The goal of the presentation is to invigorate discussion among technologists, engineers, and interested individuals who are interested in understanding this particular technology problem for Hawai’i.