After spending enough time gaming online, you’re bound to come across terms that feel completely foreign outside of the gaming world. In fact, a lot of these phrases might seem downright baffling to outsiders. To help you navigate situations where someone might be using these terms—and you’re unsure how to respond—we’ve created a series of articles breaking down gaming lingo. Today, let’s dive into ‘Diff’: what it means in gaming and how it’s used in different scenarios.
What Does ‘Diff’ Mean in Gaming?
‘Diff’ is short for Difference.
There are a few different meanings in gaming. They include:
- It can refer to a change in versions of the game.
- If two players have a large level disparity between them, the term could be used.
- You can also use the term to describe the game’s difficulty.
More specifically, the definition is as follows:
‘Diff’ can refer to the difficulty level of a game, the skill disparity between players in the same role (common in competitive games), or the changes introduced between versions or updates of a game. Whether it’s calling out a “tank diff” after a tough match or analyzing patch diff notes, this term flexes its versatility in the gaming world.
How to Use ‘Diff’ Correctly
These are a few examples on how to use ‘Diff’ in a sentence correctly:
- “I can’t believe how much harder the final boss is on Nightmare mode—the diff between Normal and Hard is wild, but this is on another level.”
- “That match was brutal; it was a clear support diff—their healer was always in the right place, and ours kept getting caught out.”
- “The patch notes outlined the diff between the current version and the last one, and it looks like they’ve finally nerfed that overpowered weapon.”
Now that you know how to use ‘Diff’ in a sentence, I recommend trying it out with your friends the next time you play online!
