Welcome to your Esports course

You’ll experience a variety of course delivery throughout your time on the course so that learning can scaffolded effectively.

The course operates with three modules in each of two semesters. Within these modules, teaching will vary dependent on the content. You will often have a lecture within a large lecture space with your peers from the rest of the year or have smaller sized seminar/workshop sessions with 20-30 students.

You may also be timetabled for technical instruction and/or library sessions to develop skills needed to develop in both an employability and academic aspect. As an Esports program, we regularly run and support student-led extracurricular events and activities throughout the year which we encourage student participation to develop individual learning, experience and portfolios.

Semester one of Level 4 contains 3 compulsory modules that you will be taking as a part of the curriculum.

Esports in Context [40 Credits]

What is esports and why is it important in the first place? Esports in Context spans both semesters within your first year of study and will dive into the key concepts, cultures and pressing topics of the esports ecosystem, including how esports has developed, the importance of competitive culture within society and where the industry is poised to go next. This module will also act as an introduction to the teaching of academic writing and research.

Multi-disciplinary Teamwork [20 Credits]

Barely any parts of the esports sector (or any adjacent industry) exist with people working in isolation. In your first few weeks on this module, you will be developing your understanding of the role you play as an individual within a team environment and how to effectively work within various team dynamics and redefine your abilities to overcome obstacles as a group.

Live Broadcasting Technologies [20 Credits]

Broadcasting is an already technically advanced area and continues to innovate, but esports audiences demand a more engaging platform to live their experiences. In this module, students will learn what considerations are desired from a broadcast creation process, looking at broadcast workflows and getting a hands-on experience with technical equipment to build a foundation of production skills.

Although pre-learning is not mandatory, we encourage you look to engage with relevant esports material that will develop your understanding of its current positioning and where it has come from.

Some good starting points are:

The Esports Research Report [Podcast – Esports Research Network]

Watch Me Play: Twitch and the Rise of Game Live Streaming [Book – T.L Taylor]

Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming [Book – T.L Taylor]

We will supply access to any software or equipment that you will need to complete the course, but if you wish to complete assignment work at home, you may benefit from some form of computer (pc or laptop) that can at least handle word processing.

As a student at Staffordshire University, you have access to a range of software that we have licenses for. Not all of these are used for esports, but if you have an interest you can still download and use them as a student.

Download software

We run a range of trips each year however these are usually designed and developed in relation to the Esports schedule and events calendar. For example last year we took students to the Apex global series in London. With the year prior taking students to the Czech republic and EGX.

As a program we like to engage with a range of trips each year, which however are usually designed and developed in relation to the Esports schedule and events calendar – as such we don’t shout about it too far in advance!

We often have a portion of students that volunteer to work at EPIC.LAN, and attend with students regularly to experience the heart of esports communities and provide students with an experience to shadow in some of the roles that make it happen.

We’re also really excited about how our engagement with trips and activities is growing!

There are a range of esports and video game-related societies at the university which run alongside the students union.

We have a range of esports-related societies at the university which run alongside the students union, such as Staffs Esports, Staffs Smash & the VGU.

There are also plenty of special interest societies that are worth exploring and can enhance your university experience tenfold!

 All of these can be found at the link attached Clubs and Societies (staffsunion.com)

Whilst we do not require any particular uniform for the course, you are expected to dress smart when engaging in relevant activities.

If you are presenting a pitch to course staff, which may include industry guests, or engaging at an industry networking conference you are expected to present yourself and represent the course professionally.