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Network Analysis of Players Transfers in eSports: The Case of Dota 2
In this work, we analyse the structure of local and regional market of player transfers in popular eSports discipline Dota 2. Together with team performance metrics, these data provide us with an opportunity to model network of transfers between teams. In turn, the transfers show the actual structure of mobility in the industry. We collected the data on players’ transfers for the top professional teams and their transfer partners, based on transactions between two world tournaments: The International 16 to The International 17. We built a directed network of transfers and analysed centralities, assortative mixing, and link formation.
The global transfer market structure is organised around continental regions. At the same time, teams with the same level of performance rarely have transfers. This can be a reliable indicator of the presence of mobility lifts, in this case, mastodons of the tournament accept in their ranks natives of the less rated teams. On the other hand, some successful players may leave the best teams to establish their own, in the same way as top managers leave the large corporations to launch startups.
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