A Systematic Review of Coevolution in Real-Time Strategy Games

Abstract

Real-time strategy (RTS) games are a subgenre of strategy video games. Due to their importance in practical decision-making and digital entertainment over the last two decades, many researchers have explored different algorithmic approaches for controlling agents within RTS games and learning effective strategies and tactics. Among the techniques, coevolutionary algorithms proved to be one of the most popular and successful algorithms for developing such games, in which players can compete or cooperate to achieve the given game’s mission. However, as many alternative designs exist with their analysis and the applications reported in diverse publications, a review covering the evolution of such algorithms would be valuable for researchers and practitioners in this domain. This paper aims to provide a systematic review by highlighting why and how coevolution is used in RTS games and analysis of the recent work. The review conducted follows procedural steps to identify, filter, analyse and discuss the existing literature. This structured review articulates the purposes of using coevolution in RTS games and highlights several open questions for future research in this domain.