Analyzing Usage Patterns in Online Game...

A typical life cycle of an online game is reflected in its usage patterns. A game first builds a user base, then reaches an absolute peak, to then being played by a minimum number of dedicated fans at the end of its life. Apart from this development, extraordinary internal and external events can be observed as changes in usage in games, especially multiplayer and massive multiplayer ones. For the usage of video games, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted usage as it had on the game business itself. However, research lacks data to investigate these relations further. Usage statistics of games are rarely accessible for researchers. In this paper, we relate usage statistics to viewership and popularity of a game using available data sources like online statistics or activity on Twitch.tv. In a first study, data from the online role-playing game (MMORPG) Eternal Lands is analyzed. Eternal Lands is a free, multiplayer, online game that was created already in 2002. The usage patterns show day/night cycles of players in the prime time of the time zones where most players are located and increased playing activity on weekends. A general trend over time shows a slowly diminishing user base over the years since its introduction. In April 2020, a significant rise in user activities can be observed, attributed to lockdowns in many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This can be attributed to regular players investing more time playing the game during the lockdown and to new or recurring players, who have not played the game intensively before, were looking for a distraction during the lockdown. In a second study, we focus on complementary viewer statistics on the popular game streaming platform Twitch.tv. We can observe that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the playing time, as mentioned earlier. We relate usage data to viewership and streaming statistics of popular games. With the example of Eternal Lands, being a game that never went viral, we discuss the possibility of approximating a game's popularity through game streaming and viewership.