Differentiating right upper limb movements of esports players who play different game genres.

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011-

Upper Extremity*/physiology ; Movement*/physiology; Humans ; Biomechanical Phenomena ; Male ; Adult ; Young Adult ; Female ; Athletic Performance/physiology ; Adolescent ; Sports/physiology

Esports is a fast-growing worldwide phenomenon encompassing hundreds of millions of competitive players. It is well-established that different game genres require distinct cognitive skills, but the biomechanical implications of playing different game genres have received little attention. This is the first study to quantify gamers' kinematic behaviour across genres, demonstrating the importance of physical demands on performance and equipment in esports. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the right upper limb kinematic behaviour differs among players across game genres. 63 esports players played a First Person Shooter (FPS), Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), or Adventure game for 10 min. Three tri-axial accelerometers, positioned on each participant's right upper limb (hand, forearm, arm), recorded kinematic data during gameplay. Hand acceleration magnitude, direction change, distance travelled (sum of all hand displacements over 10-min of gameplay), and displacement area (size and shape) were calculated in addition to hand, forearm, and arm acceleration ratios. There was a marked difference in movement patterns across players of different game genres. FPS players displayed greater hand acceleration magnitude (0.96 m.s ^-2  ± 0.07 SEM), moved their hand through a greater distance (38.96 m ± 2.47 SEM), and over a larger displacement area (119.13 cm ²  ± 16.05 SEM) compared to MOBA and Adventure players. MOBA players exhibited greater hand acceleration magnitude (0.73 m.s ^-2  ± 0.05 SEM), changed direction more (2335 ± 172 SEM) and covered more distance (29.25 m ± 1.80 SEM) compared to Adventure players within a smaller overall area (70.49 cm ²  ± 9.91 SEM). These findings have the potential to impact the design of gaming equipment and the training volumes of gamers across different game genres, so as to mitigate injury risk and improve overall gaming performance.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)

Psychol Bull. 2018 Jan;144(1):77-110. (PMID: 29172564)
Motor Control. 2000 Jul;4(3):293-315. (PMID: 10900057)
PLoS One. 2024 Jan 2;19(1):e0288770. (PMID: 38165975)
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2023 Oct;153:105386. (PMID: 37683988)
Res Q Exerc Sport. 2003 Sep;74(3):257-69. (PMID: 14510290)
Adv Physiol Educ. 2018 Jun 1;42(2):343-347. (PMID: 29761718)
BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2024 Oct 23;10(4):e002243. (PMID: 39450404)
BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med. 2019 Jan 10;5(1):e000467. (PMID: 30792883)
J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2006 Feb;16(1):51-7. (PMID: 16099678)
J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2021 Sep;51(9):415-417. (PMID: 34465141)
Front Psychol. 2020 May 29;11:1030. (PMID: 32547452)
Sports Biomech. 2024 Dec;23(12):2431-2443. (PMID: 38747541)
Am J Ind Med. 2010 Mar;53(3):285-323. (PMID: 19753591)
Neural Plast. 2005;12(2-3):109-18; discussion 263-72. (PMID: 16097479)
Clin J Sport Med. 2022 May 1;32(3):e221-e229. (PMID: 35470342)
PLoS One. 2020 Aug 25;15(8):e0237584. (PMID: 32841263)
Brain Sci. 2020 Nov 15;10(11):. (PMID: 33203067)
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Mar 13;17(6):. (PMID: 32183070)
Front Psychol. 2019 Dec 20;10:2852. (PMID: 31920879)
AIHAJ. 2000 Mar-Apr;61(2):231-43. (PMID: 10782195)
J Neurosci Methods. 1996 Mar;65(1):55-62. (PMID: 8815309)
Curr Sports Med Rep. 2020 Dec;19(12):537-545. (PMID: 33306517)
Anal Bioanal Chem. 2004 Oct;380(3):484-92. (PMID: 15365680)
J Neurophysiol. 2003 May;89(5):2396-405. (PMID: 12611935)
Front Hum Neurosci. 2017 Dec 19;11:615. (PMID: 29379424)
Prog Brain Res. 2018;240:161-174. (PMID: 30390829)
Front Sports Act Living. 2021 May 28;3:689371. (PMID: 34124663)
Front Sports Act Living. 2024 Feb 26;6:1309991. (PMID: 38469227)

13/RC/2094_P2 Ireland SFI_ Science Foundation Ireland; 13/RC/2094_P2 Ireland SFI_ Science Foundation Ireland; 13/RC/2094_P2 Ireland SFI_ Science Foundation Ireland

Keywords: Biomechanics; Kinematics; Performance; Physical demand; Video gaming

Date Created: 20250222 Date Completed: 20250223 Latest Revision: 20250225

20250225

PMC11846987

10.1038/s41598-025-90949-6

39987242