Characters, factions, classes, and decks: we often embrace asymmetry in competitive games, yet one overpowered option can wreak havoc among a game's player community.

Sussing out such imbalances in your metagame is typically done through intuition and lots of playtesting. But at GDC 2015, designer and data scientist Alex Jaffe offered a fresh approach, developed during his time spent balancing PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. 

Jaffe's method uses game theory and matchup charts to describe the possible metagames that can form among expert players. Through examples from modern games, his talk shows the value in carefully reasoning about - and even quantifying - metagame balance.

It's worth watching if you're at all curious about the practical challenges of balancing a competitive game, and now you can watch Jaffe's entire talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

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