Better to be red than blue in virtual competition

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sports Science
• Computer Science

Background:

• Previous research indicated a color bias favoring red athletic uniforms in the 2004 Olympic Games.
• The potential influence of color on competitive outcomes in virtual environments remained unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if the color bias observed in physical sports extends to virtual competitions.
• To analyze the performance difference between red and blue teams in a popular first-person-shooter (FPS) game.

Main Methods:

• Data collected over 3 months from a public global statistics server.
• Analyzed 1,347 matches involving top players in a multiplayer FPS game.
• Compared win rates of teams assigned red versus blue uniforms.

Main Results:

• Red teams achieved a statistically significant win rate of 54.9%.
• A slight performance advantage was observed for players selecting the red team.
• The findings suggest a consistent color bias in competitive virtual environments.

Conclusions:

• The color red may confer a slight advantage in virtual competitions, similar to physical sports.
• Game designers should consider psychological color biases when developing competitive FPS games.
• The "seeing red" phenomenon might act as a psychological distractor impacting competitive outcomes.