Chuapp Talk: The Psychology of Queuing in Games

In EA Sports FC 27's new open-world mode The Grounds, 100 players share one room and match into minigames ranging from 1v1 to 5v5, with 1v1 and Rush drawing the most players while other activities sit nearly empty. The author argues the core problem is the physical "waiting zone" design, where players must stand in a small area doing almost nothing until enough people join. Drawing on David Maister's 1984 essay "The Psychology of Waiting Lines," the piece suggests letting players queue for several minigames at once or boosting rewards for unpopular activities.