Skoltech-patented ranking system to evaluate gamer's individual contribution

Researchers from the Digital Engineering Center—Project Manager Anton Vinogradov, Research Engineer Anton Stepanov, Associate Professor Andrey Somov, and their co-authors—pioneered Game-R, the state-of-the-art ranking system for gamers. Unlike existing solutions, it features in-depth statistics, which considers a variety of metrics. Also, its main function is to show an individual gaming contribution of the player regardless of the game result. To date, the ranking system functions for Counter-Strike 2 gamers, but, as the authors say, it starts working for Dota 2 shortly.

The authors proposed and implemented seven metrics. Five of them were created in collaboration with professional gamers. The metrics are based on different game elements. The authors analyzed interconnection between these elements for creating a trustworthy metric. It is further verified and revised prior to being accepted for the ranking system. For example, one of the metrics demonstrates the impact of diverse and successful use of grenades.

"Typically, the game accounts for the number of grenades a player threw and the level of their damage. In the proposed ranking solution, we compare it with the metrics of professional gamers and look at the damage impact—whether the enemy or teammates have suffered, how many seconds the gamers were blinded by grenades, and so on," says one of the co-authors Anton Vinogradov, a project manager at the Digital Engineering Center.

Key advantage of the ranking system is its ability to identify the individual contribution of the gamer to the team performance and result. The existing in-game statistics do not always show the game performance of the individual player: "We show that even if the team loses, some gamers can still demonstrate a high level of positive impact on the team performance," adds Anton Vinogradov.

The proposed ranking system is now ready for mainstream implementation. The authors believe that it will soon become a part of plans for gamers offered by telecom operators and the major ranking solution for gaming and eSports.

Provided by Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology