COS 205-2 - Multiplayer videogames to refine ecological and evolutionary theories of animal behavior: The case of Dead by Daylight

Background/Question/Methods

Background/question/ methods

Social and interspecific interactions exert selection pressures that shape evolution. However, predicting the strength and direction of these effects on evolution is difficult because collecting data on free-ranging animals that accurately captures the structure, variation, and plasticity of animal behavior is a challenge. Without accurate empirical data, building and testing realistic theoretical models impossible. We suggest that using multiplayer videogames as study systems could circumvent the limitations of traditional animal models. Here, we 1) showcase examples of how multiplayer videogames could refine ecological and evolutionary theories; and 2) analyse cooperative social interactions and predator–prey interactions among players in the game Dead by Daylight to dissect their consequences for selection on, and the expression of, behavioral variation. This game involves five players (four prey aiming to escape a single predator) over repeated matches across a series of complex three-dimensional habitats.

Results/Conclusions

Results/Conclusions

Multiplayer videogames could help us to assess the robustness of classic theoretical models in the context of realistic behavioral variation, to identify the role of precise agents of selection on behavior, and to dissect the sources of behavioral variation. In the game Dead by Daylight, social interactions among prey lead to a diverse set of tactics and rich behavioral variation that is observed among matches, among individuals, but also develops over time. Interactions between prey and predators shape and structure behavioural variation in predators potentially through learning and niche specialisation. Predator-prey interactions also determine the costs and benefits of cooperative behavior among prey. Thus, interactions among players in virtual worlds can generate some of the key agents of selection hypothesized to drive the evolution of animal behavior in nature.