How Gold to Make the Golden Snitch: Designing the "Game Changer" in Esports

TL;DR

This paper investigates how to design the reward for a pivotal game item in esports to maximize audience surprise, revealing that the optimal reward depends on team strength differences and game duration.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for setting the reward of a 'Game Changer' item, using a Quidditch case study and analyzing its implications for MOBA games.

Findings

Optimal Snitch reward is zero for equally skilled teams.

Reward correlates with game duration and team strength difference.

Higher reward increases audience surprise with greater team inequality.

Abstract

Many battling games utilize a special item (e.g. Roshan in Defense of the Ancients 2 (DOTA 2), Baron Nashor in League of Legends (LOL), Golden Snitch in Quidditch) as a potential ``Game Changer''. The reward of this item can enable the underdog to make a comeback. However, if the reward is excessively high, the whole game may devolve into a chase for the ``Game Changer''. Our research initiates with a Quidditch case study, a fictional sport in Harry Potter series, wherein we architect the Golden Snitch's reward to maximize the audience's surprise. Surprisingly, we discover that for equally competent teams, the optimal Snitch reward is zero. Moreover, we establish that under most circumstances the optimal score aligns with the game's expected duration multiplied by the teams' strength difference. Finally, we explore the correlation between the ``Game Changer's'' reward and audience surprise in Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games including DOTA 2 and LOL, finding that the optimal reward escalates with increasing team strength inequality.