Cultural and skill diversity: drivers of success in global esports teams

Purpose This article examines how cultural and skill diversity are associated with the performance of professional League of Legends teams in tournaments. Design/methodology/approach Using data from the 2018–2023 seasons, the study combines performance metrics from Games of Legends with monetary rewards data from Liquipedia. Cultural diversity is measured by the number of countries represented and by the standard deviations of Hofstede cultural dimensions. Linguistic diversity is measured by the number of languages represented. Skill diversity is measured by the standard deviations of kills, deaths and assists, vision score per minute and number of games played. Regression analyses estimate associations between diversity and team success. Findings Cultural diversity is positively associated with team performance, with more culturally diverse teams tend to outperform homogeneous ones. Language barriers are not significantly associated with performance. Skill diversity is negatively associated with performance, consistent with the idea that skill homogeneity may be beneficial for coordinated play. Practical implications Team managers and esports organizations may consider recruiting culturally diverse rosters without concern for language barriers. However, balancing player skill levels remains crucial, as high variability in skill can hinder outcomes. Originality/value By focusing on League of Legends, the article provides novel evidence of an association between cultural diversity and higher team performance and delivers insights applicable to other team-based, high-performance environments.