Comparison of Reaction Time Between eSports Players of Different Genres and Sportsmen

Background

In the context of this study, eSports is defined as competitive gaming. Players train and improve mental and physical abilities to improve their chances of success against other players on electronic devices such as computers or gaming consoles (Wagner, 2006). Competition in eSports is often implemented in tournaments, but can also take place within a game, for instance through a ladder system. In recent years, the scientific acceptance of eSports has also increased in different fields of research. The subjects investigated include the eSports market and sponsoring (Mangeloja, 2019), consumption motives (Bányai et al., 2019), motivational and participation factors (Braun et al., 2016), or the competition of eSports (Lipovaya et al., 2018). Research was also conducted on the characteristics of eSports players and essential skills for high performance. Along with in-game skills, for instance a sound knowledge of the game or “mechanical skills” (Donaldson, 2015), eSports players require high cognitive skills (Happonen & Minashkina, 2019; Himmelstein et al., 2017), to meet the games’ requirements, for instance quick decision making or high attentional skills, in fast paced eSport titles (Voss et al., 2010).