FPS Meaning: Here’s What It Means and How to Use It

If you’re one of the 3.2 billion people in the world who enjoy playing video games, you probably know the acronym FPS as first-person shooter. Did you know that it has other meanings? 

Yup, it’s true — and we’ll tell you all about it. Read on to get the scoop on FPS.

What Is the Definition of FPS?

The term FPS is used commonly amongst the gaming community, but were you aware that it can mean two separate things in this context? 

When discussing the video game genres or deciding what video game play next, it’s safe to assume that at least a single First Person Shooter (FPS) game will come up. 

Alternatively, if you were discussing your game’s graphical performance, you may just be talking about Frames Per Second. Both of these terms are hot topics when it comes to the gaming community. As such, let’s take a moment to get a deeper and better understanding of their meanings. 

First Person Shooter

A FPS is a game in which the player is essentially seeing what the player’s character would see, in which the player’s perspective is displayed from the First Person. 

While the first-person perspective is most commonly known for shooters, puzzle games like The Stanley Parable and Portal also utilize the first-person perspective. 

Below you will find a shortlist of some of the most popular first-person shooter games of all time:

• GoldenEye 007 (1997)
• Perfect Dark (2000)
• Half-Life 2 (2004)
• Quake (1996)
• Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
• Unreal Tournament (1999)
• BioShock (2007)
• Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)
• Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007)
• Counter-Strike (2000)
• DOOM (1993)

Frames Per Second

Frame rate or frames per second is the measurement of how many images (or frames) the GPU is able to produce in a single second. A graphics card’s processing power determines your FPS and greatly affects your gameplay. For instance, if two players are equally skilled, the one with the superior graphics card or higher FPS usually wins the gunfight in a first-person shooter game. 

There was a time when 30fps was the benchmark for PC gaming, but as the times speed up, so does gaming. As such, the benchmark is now a higher frame rate for any high-end gaming experience: 60fps. 

What Are Other Commonly Used Gaming Abbreviations? 

Now that you’re familiar with our word of the day, let’s take a look at some other common gaming abbreviations. We have provided below a crash course on a variety of the most well-known and used gaming abbreviations, which we have provided below. 

Abbreviations of Game Genres

• ARPG — Action Role Playing Game
• MMORPG — Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
• RTS — Real-Time Strategy
• TMG — Time Management Game
• MMO — Massively Multiplayer Online
• HOG — Hidden Objects Game
• TD — Tower Defense
• SIM — Simulation Games
• FGC — Fighting Game Community
• F2P — Free To Play
• TPS — Third Person Shooter
• MOBA — Multiplayer Online Battle Arena
• TBS — Turn-Based Strategy
• MMOG — Massively Multiplayer Online Game
• RPG — Role Playing Game
• TCG — Trading Card Game

Gaming Franchise Abbreviations

• AC — Assassin’s Creed
• AoE — Age of Empires
• ESO — The Elder Scrolls Online
• FF — Final Fantasy
• MK — Mortal Kombat
• NFS — Need for Speed
• RE — Resident Evil
• SF — Street Fighter
• TES — The Elder Scrolls
• WoW — World of Warcraft
• GoW — Gears of War or God of War
• GTA — Grand Theft Auto
• LoL — League of Legends
• LOZ — Legend of Zelda
• CoD — Call of Duty
• D&D/DnD — Dungeons and Dragons

Gaming Community Related Acronyms

• GDD — Gaming Design Document
• KPI — Key Performance Indicator
• NPC —  Non-Player Character
• OB — Open Beta
• ROI — Return On Investment
• HUD — Heads Up Display
• CRM — Customer Relationship Management
• FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
• CB — Closed Beta
• XP — Experience Points
• DLC — Downloadable Content
• PvP — Player versus Player

Does FPS Mean Anything Else?

Although you may know FPS as “first-person shooter,” this is not the only meaning behind our word of the day. Below you will find various meanings behind the acronym FPS provided by The Free Dictionary. 

The acronym FPS can also stand for: 

• Feet Per Second
• Frames Per Second
• Flexible Payments Service 
• Firing Pin Safety 
• Fields Per Second
• France Poker Séries 
• Financial Planning Software
• Federal Public Service 
• Florida Park Service
• Functional Pattern System
• Framing Pattern Sequence
• Florida Pediatric Society
• Florida Psychiatric Society
• Fiduciary Practice System
• Front Page Sports 
• Fire Prevention and Safety 
• Farmington Public Schools 
• Fire Prevention System
• Foot-pound-second
• Federal Protective Services
• File and Print Sharing
• Financial Planning Services 
• Fayetteville Public Schools
• Federal Protective Service
• Foundations of Physical Science
• Friends of Penn State
• Free Porcupine Society
• Freiheits-Partei der Schweiz
• Ford Production System
• Fixed Priority Scheduling
  

Conclusion

FPS stands for first-person shooter. It typically refers to a computer game genre that puts the player in a first-person perspective and involves shooting down opponenets. 

That said, FPS can also refer to “frames per second,” which is the rate at which back to back images (aka frames) appear in a display and form moving imagery. 

We hope our guide provided you with all the information you need to truly understand the meaning behind our word of the day. If you would like to explore more interesting words, head on over to our website where you’ll discover informative blogs, helpful tips, useful tools and more. 

Sources:

FPS: definition | Cambridge English Dictionary

FPS: What does FPS stand for? | The Free Dictionary 

What does fps mean? Best 10 Definitions of Fps | Your Dictionary