Evaluating Valorant Player Experience through Psychophysiological Data Harvesting

Abstract

This study examines the visual attention distributions and physiological responses of Valorant players across different expertise levels using the Psychophysiological Data Harvesting (PDH) technique within a cross-sectional, quasi-experimental, between- groups laboratory design. Within standardised gameplay scenarios designed through the Wizard of Oz (WoZ) technique, eye-tracking and electrodermal activity (EDA) measurements were collected alongside pre- and post-tests. Participants were classified into three expertise groups (novice, competent, and expert; n = 10 per group) based on Riot Games’ official ranking system and the novice-to-expert model proposed by Dreyfus and Dreyfus (1980). Between-group comparisons were conducted using the Kruskal-Wallis test, with corresponding effect sizes presented alongside descriptive statistics. Descriptive patterns emerged across the eye-tracking and EDA measures: novice players allocated the highest proportion of visual attention to the central game area, whereas expert players showed a descriptively higher proportion of fixations on the map area of interest; competent players exhibited the highest mean skin conductance values, followed by expert and novice players. None of the between- group comparisons of the psychophysiological measures were statistically significant, and the observed effect sizes were small. In line with the study’s aim of demonstrating the systematic application of an integrated psychophysiological data-collection procedure, these descriptive patterns and effect-size estimates are presented as reference values for the sample-size planning of subsequent confirmatory research. The methodological contribution lies in the integrated application of eye-tracking, EDA, WoZ, and pre- and post-test procedures within the PDH framework to jointly interpret quantitative psychophysiological and qualitative data.