The Effects of Network Latency on Counter-strike: Global Offensive Players

Abstract

Players of first-person shooter (FPS) games, such as Counter-strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO), seek low latencies in order to play well and have fun. Even network latencies as small as 10 milliseconds may decrease accuracy, score, and Quality of Experience (QoE), degredations that may be exacerbated for some weapons. This paper presents results from 40+ person user study that measures the impact of network latencies on players for the FPS game CS: GO. We setup a testbed where participants played 20+ rounds of CS: GO with controlled amounts of network latency with either a mid-range, rapid fire, high-precision weapon (an AK-47 assault rifle) or a close-range, slow fire, lower-precision weapon (a Nova shotgun). Analysis of the results shows even network latencies under 100 milliseconds degrade player performance (accuracy and score), avatar movements, and QoE, with the impact on player performance more pronounced for the assault rifle compared to the shotgun.