1. Tackling Audience Experiences
in Games
Dr. Johanna Pirker, TU Graz
Rainer Angermann, Rarebyte

2. Outline
● Who is "the spectator"?
● How to design to engage the spectator?
● How to evaluate spectator engagement?

3. Who Is the
Spectator?

4. The Player
● Good playing and streaming
experience
● Interaction possibilities with
viewers
● Entertainment of viewers
● Building a communitiy
The Spectator
● Understanding the
gameplay/mechanics/rules
● Interactions with the player
and/or other viewers
● Being entertained and surprised
● Being part of a community

5. Streaming At Home eSports
Event
Event Game
Where to Find Spectators

6. The Psychology of the Spectator
● Spectators != Fans
● The fan is more motivated by the
achievements, the spectator is motivated by
the aesthetics, the skill of the player(s), drama
● Spectator behavior fulfill social / psychological
needs
● Maslow's needs, escape-seeking model
Loyalty
Attraction
Adhesion
Conscience
Fan
Viewer

7. Motives for Spectating
● Identification: associated with successful player, self-esteem, success
● Aesthetics: appreciation of the beauty of the game
● Drama & Excitement: experience pleasent
stress/stimulation, entertainment, risk, competition
● Escape: escape from the daily routing, fantasy
● Knowledge: – enjoy players' skills
● Social Interaction: affiliation to a community, to a group
● Team/Player Support: connection to a player/ esports team, local support
(Matsuoka, 2014 and Dos Santos, Rios 2014)

8. How to Design
to Engage the
Spectator?

9. Main Goals
Create a playable game
vs.
Create a watchable game
Viewers need to be able to understand the game, be able to keep track of
everything, and need reasons to keep watching

10. Designing for Spectator Personas
● The Bystander
● The Curious
● The Inspired
● The Pupil
● The Unsatisfied
● The Entertained
● The Assistant
● The Commentator
● The Crowd
(Cheung and Huang, 2011)

11. Three Phases of Spectator Engagement
Attract & Teach
Attract viewers with
gameplay. The game needs to
be understood fast and
simply by watching someone
else play the game.
Retain
The game should be interesting
& entertaining to watch;
entertain and surprise viewers
Involve & Engage
Involving viewers in
the experience, allow interactio
n with the player,other viewers,
the game
Goal: Create a watch-able game: viewers need to be able to understand the game, be able to keep track of everything, and
need reasons to keep watching

12. … to Support the Spectator's Motives
Attract & Teach
Aesthetics
Drama/excitement
Simplicity - easy to grasp through
observation
Retain
Drama
Build up knowledge
Unpredictability/
close call
Involve & Engage
Social interaction
Achievement
Identification
Teach others
Team/player support

13. A Viewer Walks into a… Stream:
„What is happening here?“
● The game needs to be easy to pickup
● Viewers learn about the game while watching

14. Design to Attract Viewers
● Game design, battles, graphics, UI features give spectators
visual hints and experiences about the actions, tactics, and
emotions
● Graphics/colour/scenery helps them to understand the
emotion and the current situation in the game (e.g.
winning/losing)
LoL: Color scheme
indicating what is
"happening"

15. Design to Teach
● UI for players
● Focus on the player’s character
● Feedback
● UI for spectators/viewers
● Overview of all players (multiplayer)
● Comparison of players/stats
For spectators
For the player

16. Why do Viewers stay or come back?
● Competition
● Drama
● Affiliation/ Support

17. Design for Drama
● Create intense
playthroughs/matches
● Mechanics to rebalance
different player skills

18. Design to Create the Unexpected
As a viewer you should never know exactly
what will happen next
● Add random events/story twists to
change the balance within the game
● Add surprise boxes/crates, loot, …
„We Are Screwed!“:
Procedural content and
random events force players
to change roles

19. Strategy to keep spectator interested: Information Asymmetry
Spectator and player have different information pieces of the game
Known by spectator:
● Position of other players
● Composition of other teams
● Traps
Known by player:
● Stategies, plans, capabilities
Example: League of Legends
Design Information Asymmetry

20. Let Viewers Participate
● Passive: Rename in-game
characters
● Active: Let viewers decide/vote
for choices, item drops etc.

21. Build a Community
● Make it accessible
● Audience should feel welcome
● Players should feel save
● Let viewers be „a part of something“

22. Evaluation
Strategies

23. Evaluation Strategies - Overview
● Observation
● Think-out loud
● Physiological data
● In-game metrics and data
● Interviews
● Focus groups
● Questionnaires
● ….

24. Example: The Indie's Point of View
Evaluation Strategies - "The Party Test"
● Goal: Understand the first-time users and also spectators' experience, identify issues (onboarding,
usability, playability) and identify both player and spectator engagement and experience.
● Procedure: Similar to focus group. Invite 15-20 people to the office ("play party"). First players are
asked to play through parts of the game and the other participants are engaged to actively
watch/observe the others play the game. Let 2-4 play the game. Only basics instructions are given
such as “Run!”
● Data Analysis: Data is collected through interviews/questionnaires/logs/TA logs. The analysis is
then qualitative or quantitative. E.g. ask bother players and spectators of the session questions
about the game to learn if the mechanics are clear. Also questions related to
motivation/engagement are crucial.

25. Example: The Academic's Point of View
Evaluation Strategies - "Interaction Data Analysis"
● Goal: Understand the behavior of spectators as a part of a
community by analyzing the interaction data of spectators or
community data (e.g. Twitch or Twitter data).
● Procedure: The interaction data of spectators is logged and analyzed
to create engagement measures. An interaction graph can
be constructed based on spectator interaction data.
● Data Analysis: Data is collected through in-game or in-stream logs
showing the spectator's interaction with the game. Different data
analysis methods can be applied such as interaction graphs or
interaction charts.

26. Evaluation Strategies
Research Institution Meets Game Studio
Data
Definition
Plan &
Prototype
Playtest
•Observe
•Collect Data
Evaluate
● Data definition: involvement of the research
institution in the process to define evaluation
points and logging data
● Plan & prototype: studio develops prototype
including data definition strategies
● Playtest: studio collects data based on the
defined strategies
● Evaluation: research institution supports with
evaluation strategies and analysis

27. Thanks!
Dr. Johanna Pirker, TU Graz
@JoeyPrink
Rainer Angermann, Rarebyte
@rangermann