Gaze Behavior of Professional and Non-Professional eSports Players in FIFA 19

In traditional sports like soccer or tennis, experts benefit from better anticipation abilities compared to novices through a more efficient gaze behavior. For electronic sports (eSports), this area is rather unexplored, although quick decision making, which is linked to gaze behavior, is considered fundamental in eSports. In this study, the gaze behavior of professional and non-professional eSports players (n=21, 23.4 +/- 3.3 years) was recorded via eye-tracking in the sports simulation FIFA 19. Number, duration, and location of fixations were compared over an entire match and in offensive play situations. Except for fixation location, no significant differences were found. The players mainly fixated the same objectives regarding fixation number and duration, but professionals had significantly more fixations using the in-game radar and fixated off-ball teammates significantly shorter. Due to the limited results, gaze behavior does not seem to be a decisive factor for excellent performance in FIFA 19.