ggViz: Accelerating Large-Scale Esports Game Analysis

TL;DR

ggViz is a visual analytics system that leverages player tracking data in esports to enable efficient game state querying and review, aiding coaches and analysts in decision-making.

Contribution

The paper introduces ggViz, a novel system that applies sketch-based querying and visualization techniques to large esports datasets, addressing data limitations and enhancing game analysis.

Findings

Effective game state retrieval through sketches

Guided analysis with win probability charts

Positive feedback from esports experts

Abstract

While esports organizations are increasingly adopting practices of conventional sports teams, such as dedicated analysts and data-driven decision-making, video-based game review is still the primary mode of game analysis. In conventional sports, advances in data collection have introduced systems that allow for sketch-based querying of game situations. However, due to data limitations, as well as differences in the sport itself, esports has seen a dearth of such systems. In this paper, we leverage player tracking data for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) to develop ggViz, a visual analytics system that allows users to query a large esports data set through game state sketches to find similar game states. Users are guided to game states of interest using win probability charts and round icons, and can summarize collections of states through heatmaps. We motivate our design through interviews with esports experts to especially address the issue of game review. We demonstrate ggViz's utility through detailed case studies and expert interviews with coaches, managers, and analysts from professional esports teams.