1. The study examined how national diversity of players on professional Dota 2 esports teams affects team effectiveness. 2. The researchers analyzed data from 212 teams competing in 9 International and 5 Major tournaments from 2011-2018. 3. They found that teams with players from at least three different nationalities generally had higher win ratios, indicating more effectiveness, than less diverse or mononational teams.

1. Toward Successful Esports Team
How Does National Diversity Affect Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Video Games
ESPORTS MINITRACK
Justyna Nyćkowiak, Tomasz Kołodziej, Michał Jasny, Piotr Siuda

2. RQ: Are more nationally heterogeneous professional
esports teams more effective?
INTRODUCTION
Dota 2 teams (MOBA). Desk research data from The
International and Major. Cognitive diversity, and
similarity/attraction theories.
INTRODUCTION HICSS56 ESPORTS MINITRACK

3. The dynamic changes of the MOBA esports scene.
The technology along with increasing sponsorship and
geographical restrictions: more multinational teams.
Mastering complicated systems, sophisticated mechanics,
and rules of joint play.
INTRODUCTION

4. Usually: factors contributing to winning a
single match.
This study: explaining general longer-term
teams’ effectiveness.
Some analyses confirm a relationship
between the degree of homogeneity of the
esports team and its effectiveness (the
researcher on amateur teams).
INTRODUCTION

5. Cognitive diversity
Positive impact of diversity on team
performance, since it means unique
cognitive resources (creativity,
innovativeness, and problem-solving).
Attraction of similarities
Homogeneity of the team promotes
mutual attractiveness. Differences in
this area usually harm team
effectiveness and social integration.
Teams – work groups (basic features and „deep”/”hidden” features).
Heterogeneous groups vs. homogeneous ones.
INTRODUCTION

6. 13 tournaments (9 Internationals and 5 Majors); 2011-2018; 212
teams, 3,329 matches; pre-COVID-19 events; multinational or
mononational teams.
Teams appearing in subsequent tournaments are treated as
separate cases, regardless of participating under the same name
in other tournaments.
Websites 1) with open access data, 2) the most
comprehensive scope, 3) transparent data
structure, 4) popular among professionals and
5) with community participation in content
creation and control of the data.
DATA

7. Win ratio – ratio of games won to the total
number of games (here given in decimal values
from 0 to 1).
Effectiveness cannot be measured solely by the
number of events won or ranks. Failures make it
necessary to play more games, but the teams
still retain the chance of taking top places For
successful teams, the path to the final is shorter.
The importance of winning matches with the
lowest possible number of lost games.
In this approach, effectiveness is not only about
ranks but rather about teams’ efficacy.

8. Places 1-4 Places 5-11 Places 12-18
Teams with the highest win ratio were indeed top-ranked.
E.g.: teams that managed to win more than three-quarters of their
games (only 4.7%); these highly effective teams usually took the
highest places in the tournaments.
Therefore, the win ratio affects teams’ effectiveness.
. SEE THE PAPER FOR MORE

9. RESULTS
H I C S S 5 6

10. Multinational teams are
becoming increasingly
common at tournaments.
The nationality of the
coaches is another factor
diversifying the squads.
Lots of teams are
homogenous, including the
coach.
36% of all teams
At least three nationalities
20% of all teams
The coach’s nationality is the
same as of all of the players
68% of all teams
Two or three nationalities
100% of all teams
Had a coach at TI2018

11. The more diverse the team was, the
better its results were, with teams
with players of at least three
nationalities usually registering the
two top win ratios.
1.
Teams that hired a coach achieved
a win ratio over 0.5 more often
than those that resigned from
coaches (not enough statistical
evidence).
2.
Highly homogeneous teams were
more successful when trained by a
coach of the same nationality and
the opposite.
3.
One cannot indicate a correlation
between a simple distinction:
mononational vs multinational and
the win ratio. The degree of
national diversity matters.
4.
H I C S S 5 6

12. New insights into the performance and the effectiveness of esports
teams (the link between the coach’s nationality and the team’s
effectiveness is less clear).
1.
Both teams and organizations would do well to develop effective long-
term management strategies (considering players’ nationality).
2.
Managing teams in terms of national diversity seems important for
both results and marketing and building brands.
3.
DISCUSSION

13. DISCUSSION
Many variables that could influence both national differences in
teams’ composition and win ratio are not considered due to the
limitations of data used.
The study does not consider the meaning ascribed to nationalities, i.e.
perception/feeling of difference and how it might influence
effectiveness.
Considering this, we do not want to answer why are the nationally
heterogeneous teams more effective.

14. The similarity of esports teams’ members
in terms of their basic socio-
demographic characteristics such as
gender and age could be psychologically
comforting.
ATTRACTION OF SIMILIARITIES
The environment which favors the
identification of differences/similarities
accounts for diversified visions of
achieving the team goal (boost in
creativity, and ultimately effectiveness).
COGNITIVE DIVERSITY

15. 1. How nationality influences the style of
play of individual players?
2. Research on other important variables
that might affect the effectiveness and
combining these with national
diversity.
JUSTYNA NYĆKOWIAK
University of Zielona Góra
j.nyckowiak@is.uz.zgora.pl
Józef Piłsudski University
of Physical Education
michal.jasny@awf.edu.pl
TOMASZ KOŁODZIEJ
University of Zielona Góra
t.kolodziej@is.uz.zgora.pl
MICHAŁ JASNY
Kazimierz Wielki University
in Bydgoszcz
piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl
PIOTR SIUDA

16. THANK YOU