Latency Thresholds for Usability in Games: A Survey

Abstract

User interactions in interactive applications are time critical operations;
late response will degrade the experience. Sensitivity to delay does
however vary greatly with between games. This paper surveys existing
literature on the specifics of this limitation. We find a classification
where games are grouped with others of roughly the same requirements.
In addition we find some numbers on how long latency is acceptable.
These numbers are however inconsistent between studies, indicating
inconsistent methodology or insufficient classification of games and
interactions. To improve classification, we suggest some changes.
In general, research is too sparse to draw any strong or statistically
significant conclusions. In some of the most time critical games, latency
seems to degrade the experience at about 50 ms.