14 DAY TRIAL // A study from the Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada that focused on the multiplayer performance in Starcraft II shows that skill and cognitive performance decline for players and for the wider population begins at 24.
The researchers have monitored 3,305 players of the popular Blizzard real-time strategy title in order to see how they perform based on their age, with those evaluated ranging from as young as 16 to 44.
The study shows that across all levels of skill and all divisions included in Starcraft II multiplayer, the decline in performance starts at 24 and continues to accentuate over time, with no clear way of making up the deficit through practice.
The study also shows that the media age of performance decline was 22 for the Bronze league and went down to 20 for the Master league, which is home to the most capable and competitive players.
The Escapist quotes Joe Thompson from Simon Fraser University in British Columbia as saying that, “Older players, though slower, seem to compensate by employing simpler strategies and using the game's interface more efficiently than younger players, enabling them to retain their skill.”
Basically, gamers over 24 become better at using hotkeys and the interface in order to compensate for their declining cognitive skills, but it’s unclear how long that can keep their skills up.
The researcher adds, “One possible concern is that our finding of age-related decline in StarCraft II could be due to a speed accuracy trade-off: older players become slower in virtue of focusing on accurate movements or strategic planning.”
The team says that the study focused on Starcraft II does not mean that all humans tend to see a drop in their overall cognitive skills at 24, but offers a series of new hypothesis to test in other scenarios and might have an impact on our understanding of how the mind works.
Blizzard has already announced that it plans to launch at least one more expansion for its real-time strategy title, called Legacy of the Void, which will be focused on the story of the Protoss.
The company has not offered any details on the story that it plans to tell or on the new units and gameplay mechanics that will be introduced.
The Starcraft II expansion will also introduce changes to the multiplayer side of the game and launch is at the moment expected to take place at some point in 2015.