Nearly 80% of Gamers Rage-Quit Over Lag — Here’s Why, According to Industry Experts

A new report by web and hosting leader Liquid Web found that 78% of gamers “rage-quit” because of gaming lag.

Rage-quitting happens when a player abruptly quits a game out of frustration, usually because the game is freezing, delayed, or not responding to their actions.

Fast-paced multiplayer games are affected the most. Call of Duty players (58%) are most likely to rage-quit because of lag, followed by players of Fortnite (43%) and Counter-Strike 2 (42%).

The top reasons for frustration include poor gameplay (53%) and communication breakdowns with teammates (25%).

“Latency and lag make gaming pointless,” said an anonymous Gen Z gamer for the survey. “If I can’t react in real time, there’s no point even trying because I’m already set up to lose.”

Lag isn’t new, but in an era of instant connectivity, many gamers question why it hasn’t been solved by now. So what’s going on?

According to two leaders in the game hosting space, it boils down to a mix of technical shortcuts and unpredictable spikes.

The survey found that 72% of gamers blame their internet providers for lag, while about 25% point the finger at game developers and the platform itself for failing to meet their needs.

The technology is there, but how developers use it makes all the difference, says James Zinn, Head of Partnerships at game server host Shockbyte.

Without naming names, Zinn pointed out that a lot of developers don’t want to shell out for high-performance hardware, especially if they’re on a budget.

“If a player is playing a game that is even remotely indie, there is a high chance the developer is running the server on hardware that wasn’t even meant for gaming,” Zinn said.

Zinn estimates that the performance gap between intended multiplayer hosts and cheaper options can be as much as 2–3 times.

Customer satisfaction is where things get costly because reliable infrastructure at a global scale is expensive.

“The more cores and RAM you need can immensely spike up the cost, which becomes an accruing monthly bill you need to be earning back in spades from players,” Zinn said.

For this reason, publishers often foot the bill for hardware costs.

Zinn suggested a way for developers to reduce the need for powerful hardware through code optimization, but most developers don’t have the time to dive into that.

“It’s either dedicate your spare time to code optimizations or spend more money on hardware if you can even afford to do so,” he said.

With developers unable (or unwilling) to invest in better infrastructure, third-party tools are stepping in.

ExitLag, for example, uses tunneling technology to optimize player connections and reduce latency. Zinn said that if it works as promised, “it could change the way we game online forever.”

While software like ExitLag may help on the player side, the market volatility also plays a role.

“New titles can trigger massive demand spikes — yet most games have a shelf life,” said Jörg Hensen, CEO of game server host GPORTAL.

“The regularly appearing ‘blockbuster’ games, often single-player, sometimes attract immense attention, definitely have an influence on the market and business,” he added.

The survey supports this, with 17% of gamers saying they were especially frustrated by game lag on launch day, causing them to rage-quit.

Hensen also noted that only a few games, like Minecraft or long-running simulation classics, manage to sustain long-term player engagement.

Basically, this only makes it harder for hosts to justify large-scale, long-term investments in infrastructure.

And players are no longer just waiting for better performance. They want immediate action when something goes wrong.

“It is clear that a large proportion of players are looking for almost constant and immediate contact with service providers,” Hensen said.

So, when lag hits, players want someone there to fix it, and they want it fixed now.

Game hosting platforms can meet rising player expectations, but it requires a choice: invest in infrastructure or risk losing players to frustration.

As Marshall Field said, “The customer is always right.”

In fact, the survey found that 55% of players won’t pick up a game that constantly lags again, 49% say they play less, and 15% have switched platforms altogether.

So, instead of letting 80% of players rage-quit, it may be time to prioritize scalable infrastructure that meets demand.

While the cost has to be offset somewhere, data shows that some players are already willing to pay for it: 26% of Minecraft players surveyed said they would pay more for premium servers that better support mods and gameplay.

Do what you will with that information, but in the end, the hosts who listen to players are the ones who will win.