‘How can we use esports, gaming and gamification as means to contribute to daily life?’  

The minor Future of Esports & Gaming focuses on the dynamic and rapidly growing influence of esports, gaming and gamification on on our dialy life. 
During this minor you will learn about the ins and outs of all facets in this industries; while esports and gaming once was a subset of sports culture, it has now grown into a full industry in its own right know. We will expose you to trends, innovations, brand and business models, and the language needed to be able to work in this new and interesting work field. During this minor, you will not only learn about conceptual frameworks of the esports world, but you will also start working on actual esports projects. Working in 6 real-life challenges you will present your solutions to actual clients. 

The esports industry is a large and growing market, characterized as a dynamic sector where organizations need to be quick and nimble in their strategies and tactics. Consumer behavior is changing continuously, and the industry is growing at a high rate every year. Historically strong in Asia and the USA, the esports world is now becoming more mature in Europe and the Benelux as well.   

The industry is facing challenges, opportunities, and new developments as an increasing number of companies jump into the world of esports. There is money to be made and a wide array of job opportunities. We will tackle relevant questions like: how can we professionalize the world of esports? How can esports contribute to a healthier lifestyle by getting people to move more and better? This requires organizations to have the right mission, vision and values, to execute their strategies well and to perform against their plans and respond quickly to trends and challenges. It will be up to you to help them and be part of this development! 

In this minor we get into the world of esports:  

• The esports market is booming, gaming is becoming increasingly popular amongst several audiences and more and more brands want to enter the esports market. Games such as FIFA, League of Legends, Valorant, CG:GO, Formula 1, DotA and Rocket League are very popular. Non-sports games like Fortnite, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Roblox, Fall Guys and Among Us help building the popularity of gaming but are not primarily designed as esports games. There is a big difference between gaming and esports, which you will learn during this minor.  

• Esports is competitive gaming with a sports component within it, with professional esports athletes performing it. This minor will give you an introduction in the esports ecosystem, show you the dynamics, explain the differences but also the similarities in comparison with the traditional sports industry.  

• We look at the traditional world of sports and the world of esports. Can these two worlds benefit from each other? Will they come together in the nearby future or not? We will look at phenomena like hybrid sports (sport apps like Zwift, the cycling and running training app) and high-performance sports teams with a separate esports team. What is happening in both worlds? 

• Gamification refers to the application of game-design elements and principles in non-game contexts to engage and motivate people to achieve certain goals or perform specific tasks. In society, gamification has been utilized across various fields to encourage desired behaviors, enhance engagement, and drive participation in different activities. Here are some ways gamification has been integrated into society like education, fan engagement, training and skill development, environmental conservation, workplace and business and social causes and activism:  

• Gamification in society aims to leverage the motivational aspects of games—such as competition, achievement, and reward—to influence behavior positively, increase engagement, and drive desired outcomes in various domains of life. 

• We will address marketing, sponsoring, branding opportunities, and business models for the world of esports and gaming. You will also create your own solutions to actual social, commercial and educational issues. 

• We will have classes and assignments at several inspiring locations, such as the H20 Esports Campus Amsterdam (located in Purmerend); we will work on projects and deliver practical results and solutions for real clients.  

• The design of the minor involves several expertise areas with different short-term projects (challenges) and assessments. By doing so we believe we will keep the minor dynamic and full of variety which is in line with the esports world. Never a dull moment. 

We will also organize field trips to other organizations working in the esports industry like team Liquid and Esports X seminar. 

Video 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9dblaUzd2pk 

Key pillars 

• The world of sports in relation to the world of esports (traditional sports, esports, hybrid sports and high-performance esports teams linked to physical sports);  

• Creative tech, Gamification, Active gaming and esports will play an important role during the whole minor; 

• Live streaming, broadcasting, events and all other important aspects within this industry; 

• Sports development; gaming to get more people active and moving; 

• Sports commerce; the business angle such as revenue streams, viewership, sponsorships, brand activation, and product placement within games; 

• Gamification and the gamified way of learning (badges, rewards, certificates, leaderboards). 

 After this minor you are able to: 

• Analyze international and national organizations in the world of esports; 

• Create mission-vision-values statements for esports related organizations; 

• Think and maneuver strategically and initiate projects for development of esports; 

• Analyze strategic problems and challenges in the world of esports; 

• Think out of the box and come up with innovative solutions for the esports world of today and tomorrow; 

• Evaluate the success of your projects; 

• Give feedback to each other in an open and positive way in order to improve your individual and team performance 

• Innovate traditional sports with the knowledge of the world of esports; 

• Identify ways to improve the competitiveness and effectiveness of an organization in the esports industry; 

• Learn about esports, esports teams, esports marketing, esports events and many things related to the esports industry; 

• Understand the importance of branding, marketing, merchandising and project management; 

• Speak the language necessary to work in the esports field; 

 POSSIBLE FUTURE CAREER PATHS 

• Work within the high-performance sports industry with esports portfolio 

• Work for an esports brand 

• Sports manager with an expertise in esports 

• Events manager for esports events  

• Physical education teacher with expertise in how to use esports to activate children 

• Account manager or product manager for esports brands 

• Business development manager  

• Video producer for esports game competitions  

• Visual designer & game designer, video editor or graphic designer  

• Community manager, social media manager 

• Player manager, esports community & player relation manager  

• Shoutcaster 

And many more... 

You have to comply with the rules and regulations concerning minors of your respective institution and/or program. We are looking for people with a heart for (innovation in) sports, technology, gamification, and with a good level of English (i.e students from programs like sportmanagement/sportkunde/sport studies, commercial economics/sportmarketing, physical education and game development. 

All the material for this minor can be found in our online education environment called Brightspace. To see all the literature and content of this minor access to Brightspace is a requirement for all students. It is not necessary for this minor to buy study material or books. 

The minor will take place at HVA CTH and several inspiring locations, such as the H20 esports Campus in Purmerend. The minor is aiming for students who are keen to contribute to the community of this course: together we work with a community of students, lecturers, researchers and esports professionals towards the goal of creating an Amsterdam Esports learning hub, the largest in Europe. 

Contacttijd: Workweek of 40 hours (participation in the esports community) 

Assessment Methods: Business challenges, several products in different forms: Paper, video production, event, business model canvas, pitching and presentations, written opinion piece / article, recommendation paper. In total 30 ECTS. 

If a student fails to successfully complete the minor in the period in which she took the minor it is possible to finalize the minor in a following period in which the minor is given.

If a minor is no longer offered or in case the minor is rewritten, the degree programme will offer students a further two opportunities to finalize this minor in the following year.

Questions about the minor?
Contact: Eelco Groen e.groen@hva.nl

Questions about the Kies op Maat procedure?
Contact: onderwijsbureau.fbe@hva.nl

Costs:

 +/- 150 euro (material /field trips)  

Applications will be processed in order of receipt signed learning agreements.