Using Collective Metrics to Assess Team Dynamics and Performance in eSports

A challenge posed by virtual teams is monitoring team interactions remotely. Research with field-based soccer teams provides evidence that measures of collective behavior can be used to assess the dynamics of sports teams. Collective behaviors calculated using the spatial characteristics of teammates as they moved across the field have been found to vary by the state of the soccer match, including ball possession and proximity to a goal. The present study examined whether similar effects were observed with collective metrics calculated from players of a car-soccer eSport video game. A set of matches were retrieved and used to calculate collective behavior metrics based on the placement of teammates within a virtual arena. A subset of metrics varied by team location and ball possession, aligning with and extending previous field-based soccer research, and correlated with team performance. This suggests that collective behaviors can be used to assess aspects of team dynamics within virtual environments.