In-Match and Out-Match Game Console Network Ping Comparison Analysis on a First-Person Arena Shooter (Case Study: East Jakarta, Indonesia)

As offline and online game technologies evolve, gaming technology and devices constantly change. Games can be played on PCs or various console machines, including portable and non-portable devices. XDefiant is a free-to-play, first-person arena shooter in which players compete in fast-paced online matches. This research aimed to compare the ping values between in-match and out-match when playing an online first-person shooter game on a console machine. The study utilized a quantitative method using primary data and a descriptive approach, with data collected from June to July 2024. The game capture latency stage involved taking 30 screenshots in 10 in-match scenarios and 30 screenshots during out-match scenarios. Network pings were analyzed during both in-match and out-match. The mean ping during the in-match was significantly higher than during the out-match, with an average difference of approximately 12.77 ms. The standard deviation for the in-match was also higher than that for the out-match. An interesting finding was that the maximum ping during out-match was higher than during in-match, though the difference was only 1 ms. The ping trend increased during the in-match, while it decreased for better performance during the out-match. Despite the varying trends in both in-match and out-match, players reported excellent game performance during the research period.