Adapting games technology for social good and positive health could be a solid future economic strand for Coventry, Warwickshire, and the UK in general, according to leading industry figures.
Esports have become popular, with major sports such as football joining the movement. Esports events feature games and tournaments similar to actual sports events. It is even possible that some of the major eSports football events may try to follow in the footsteps of the FA Cup history as the niche continues to develop. As eSports gain more popularity, there’s no telling how far it could go. For example, a recent trend that is developing is that of universities and schools incorporating it in their activities.
Strategic Partnerships
The effects of eSports can now be seen and experienced from anywhere, thanks to technological advances that allow unfettered access and participation. This is good for further development and expansion of the sport. The following partnerships are starting to form:
Coventry University Partners with Asian Electronic Sports
In order to advance the institution’s knowledge in the field of sports administration, Coventry University has formed a strategic relationship with the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF). The alliance will promote research cooperation and open doors in a new sector for students majoring in sports management and other relevant disciplines.
The Olympic Council of Asia recognises the AESF as the esports industry’s governing body in Asia. The partnership will address the following:
- Improving student experience through access to work experience opportunities with AESF, field excursions to AESF events, and collaborative online international learning with AESF and its members.
- Collaboration between industry and academia on research projects in a range of topics of interest, including eSports governance and gambling, can help progress social responsibility.
The AESF can collaborate with Coventry Business School academics to develop sports management Continuing Professional Development (CPD) courses for its member federations. The school can use their expertise to integrate eSports more fully into their sport management courses, attracting students from around the world interested in this quickly expanding area.
Staffordshire University- BA (Hons) Degree
The BA (Hons) eSports degree is a unique offering by Staffordshire university. It combines broadcasting and digital media with business experience, marketing, event management, and cultural studies. A student gains transferable skills and knowledge in the eSports world with this degree. Students can specialise in areas of interest as they progress in the course with flexible assessments and optional modules.
The university is an award-winning games university where students acquire skills in hosting small and large-scale tournaments, productions, and other events for eSports. The course uses standard broadcast technology to work across different platforms. The course also gives students an understanding of the marketing techniques for these events, the data analytics, and roles such as league ops, and community management.
During the course, students are given the opportunity to organise events for the university’s tournaments for charity. The university doesn’t teach gaming skills, but allows students to acquire that knowledge through extracurricular activities.
In the past, students were given the opportunity to work with the Alpine F1 team on the Community Cup Series. Every year, the university also hosts a friendly competition, known as Campus Clash.
Other opportunities include:
- Being a part of competitive societies for games such as Call of Duty, Overwatch, and League of Legends.
- Taking part in UK and international varsity leagues.
- Students attending eSports events around the UK, networking and learning for organising their own events.
Minerva’s Virtual Academy – An Online eSports BTEC
This initiative is expected to transform how youths between the ages of 16 and 18 interact with eSports education and open up a distinctive path for homeschooled children who were previously shut out of the mainstream educational system. It costs £3,650 for each academic year. The first-ever online eSports BTEC degree has been presented by Minerva’s Virtual Academy, paving the way for an exciting prospect in the field of online education.
The British Esports Federation and Pearson worked together to create the Esports BTEC certification, which debuted in 2020. The introduction of a two-year, totally online version of this degree by Minerva’s Virtual Academy is a first for students. Over 200 schools and institutions in the UK have adopted it since its start.
University of Warwick invests in eSports
The University of Warwick announced an investment of 224,584.25 GBP into establishing a new flexible eSports centre. This comes not long after it was made public that the University of Warwick has continued to hold the title of UK Esports University of the Year. The recent breaking news is that the University of Warwick has been named the UK Esports University of the Year for the third consecutive year.
The university’s new centre will offer a location for medium-sized eSports competitions in addition to a facility for eSports training and research. It will really be expressly designed to make it possible to move the equipment quickly and efficiently to a bigger location on campus or somewhere else for larger-scale events. The centre will have the same physical infrastructure and equipment as any other facility of its kind in the UK, thanks to the University’s investment of more than a quarter million pounds, making it the first at a Russell Group university.
The university is currently looking for sponsorship to give the centre specialised coaching, training, and development activities that will be available to the larger community in order to offer both its campus and the local community much more than any other UK eSports centre.
What’s the Importance?
Millions of people watch professional team games in eSports every day. A recent League of Legends world esports final attracted 3.8 million concurrent viewers. The potential economic advantages of this and allied businesses are already well known in Coventry, Warwickshire, and the West Midlands. The Silicon Spa in Warwickshire is a well-known gaming cluster that creates some of the most recognisable game brands and titles. To take the lead on eSports, the Centre will try to collaborate closely with local and national partners like CWLEP, Create Central, and WMCA.
Conclusion
As more schools and universities continue to incorporate eSports in their programmes, the trend will continue to grow. It has proven to be a great social activity for students to relax and learn more technological skills. The eSports industry is currently worth more than one billion GBP, and it makes sense for schools to incorporate eSports into their day-to-day running and teaching methods. The industry also has several jobs that students can consider, such as creating their own eSports event, shout casting, and social media management. Having for example, a BTEC qualification in eSports couldn’t have come at a better time.
