The Effect of Total Sleep Deprivation on the Cognitive and In-Game Performance of Rocket League Esport Players

Purpose: It is presumed by many that acute sleep loss results in degraded in-game esports (competitive, organized video game play) performance. However, this has not been experimentally investigated to date. The objective of the current experiment was to elucidate whether ~29hrs of total sleep deprivation impacts in-game performance for the popular esport Rocket League. Patients and Methods: Twenty skill-matched pairs (N = 40 total) were recruited. Within each pair, one participant was assigned to an intervention group (TSD), while the other was assigned to a control group (CON). Two test sessions occurred; one while both participants were rested (baseline), and the other while the CON participant was rested but the TSD participant was sleep deprived (experimental). Results: Following total sleep deprivation, TSD participants reported higher Karolinska Sleepiness Scale-measured subjective sleepiness and lower subjective alertness and motivation, as well as worsened PVT response speed and ~5 times greater PVT lapse incidence, and worsened response speed on a two-choice categorization task. However, overall in-game Rocket League performance did not worsen due to total sleep deprivation. Exploratory analyses of performance indicators suggest a potential shift toward a simpler and safer strategy following sleep deprivation. Conclusion: Following a bout of ~29hrs total sleep deprivation, overall in-game Rocket League performance remained unaffected. This presents as a promising finding given the high potential for acute pre-competition sleep disturbance in esports, though habitual sleep remains a concern for esport athletes.