Secrets of gosu: Understanding physical combat skills of professional players in first-person shooters

Abstract

In frst-person shooters (FPS), professional players (a.k.a., Gosu) outperform amateur players. The secrets behind the performance of professional FPS players have been debated in online communities with many conjectures; however, attempts of scientifc verifcation have been limited. We addressed this conundrum through a data-collection study of the gameplay of eight professional and eight amateur players in the commercial FPS Counter-Strike: Global Ofensive. The collected data cover behavioral data from six sensors (motion capture, eye tracker, mouse, keyboard, electromyography armband, and pulse sensor) and in-game data (player data and event logs). We examined conjectures in four categories: aiming, character movement, physicality, and device and settings. Only 6 out of 13 conjectures were supported with statistically sufcient evidence.