What is it about?
Getting into an online competitive game can be a frustrating experience. Systems designed to find fair matches (Skill-Based Matchmaking) often fail newcomers because the "lowest" skill tier of an established game population is still far beyond a beginner's reach. This paper looks at "handicapping" to consider systems that could bridge the gap while maintaining gameplay authenticity.
Featured Image
Photo by Raman Shaunia on Unsplash
Why is it important?
When repeatedly placed into matches that are overwhelmingly challenging, new or low skill players are likely to quit out of frustration. This underlies a feedback loop where the player base shrinks over time, eventually leaving only the most dedicated and skilled players behind. Left unaddressed, this dynamic poses a long-term risk to the sustainability of all competitive games. By moving away from "sink or swim" mentalities and making games more accessible to people with different backgrounds, abilities, or limited free time, developers can build larger, more sustainable, and more diverse gaming communities. Players would also benefit from shorter matchmaking times and more varied encounters, as facing a broader mix of skill levels reduces the pressure to play optimally at all times.
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Towards handicapping for online competitive video games: A taxonomical review of intervention studies, Games Research and Practice, December 2025, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3785476.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
