The impact of network and social context on quality of experience for competitive multiplayer virtual reality games

Abstract

With market trends showing an increased move towards multi-player gaming scenarios, key research challenges include evaluating the impact of various factors on player Quality of Experience (QoE). Further moves towards increased use of immersive media technologies are opening up new challenges related to the QoE assessment of multiplayer VR games, enabling rich social experiences and immersion levels that go beyond traditional gaming. In this paper we report on a subjective user study involving 32 participants grouped into pairs and taking part in two competitive VR games. We investigate the impact of various networks (4G, 5G, and Ethernet) and latency levels on overall QoE. We further analyze the impact of social context on the reported results of the conducted QoE study, investigating to what extent playing with friends/strangers impacts player experience. Findings provide novel insights with respect to methodological challenges and participant recruitment related to conducting QoE studies for competitive multiplayer VR games.