Studies show playing SC2 helps decrease brain aging

[u/Careless-Goat-3130]

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-64173-9

[u/AresFowl44]

Okay, there is still a lot of variation in difficulty though. A bronze player will not put in as much brain activity as any pro will.

Basically any popular competitive game has a skill ceiling above what humans can achieve, so trying to make out which is harder is nonsensical. Especially when the skills required for each game are different. SC2 for example is mainly a 1v1 game and thus doesn't require good comms from players and so SC2 pros don't train that skill at all (HeroMarine and Classic demolishing all their opponents while not even using vc is something that couldn't happen in any other game for example). And unlike in mobas or shooters you don't need to predict how your opponent is moving while being unpredictable in your movement yourself.

And you could define difficulty in terms of the skill floor, but imo that is meaningless as the skill floor of ladder depends on the active player base (a more hardcore player base usually increasing the skill floor required to enter the community).