SidConArena: An Environment Evaluating Agents in Open-Ended,Positive-Sum Bargaining Game

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.27397v1
• Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026 10:35:31 GMT
• Title: SidConArena: An Environment Evaluating Agents in Open-Ended,Positive-Sum Bargaining Game
• Abstract summary: We introduce SidConArena, a new benchmark framework for evaluating LLM agents in open-ended, positive-sum bargaining.<n>SidConArena formalizes a multi-player economy as a finite-horizon partially observable game with three coupled phases.<n>We show that stronger frontier models achieve higher economic outcomes, yet agents still misvalue resources, bargain passively, and remain limited in long-horizon investment planning.
• Score: 21.27775046269771
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Evaluating LLM agents requires dynamic environments that go beyond static reasoning and zero-sum games. Real-world economic interaction is often open-ended and mixed-motive: agents must negotiate, create positive-sum surplus, compete for scarce assets, and plan under delayed returns. We introduce SidConArena, a new benchmark framework for evaluating LLM agents in open-ended, positive-sum bargaining. SidConArena formalizes a multi-player economy as a finite-horizon partially observable stochastic game with three coupled phases: natural-language negotiation with binding trades, deterministic converter-based production, and sealed-bid auctions for long-term assets. The framework combines structured observations, phase-aware agent dispatching, a neural-symbolic action interface, and asynchronous execution, enabling free-form interaction while preserving rule-grounded evaluation. Across homogeneous and heterogeneous tournaments, stronger frontier models achieve higher economic outcomes, yet agents still misvalue resources, bargain passively, and remain limited in long-horizon investment planning.

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