Esports As A Degree: Is It Worth It?

September 02, 2022

Esports As A Degree: Is It Worth It?

Hey gamers, so after a weekend at Insomnia and having just about recovered from sore feet (only to make extensive walking plans this weekend) I decided to re-read some of the pamphlets I collected/accumulated over Saturday. Namely one on esports further and higher education, this is one topic I’ve been thinking about a lot for a number of reasons – not least because I keep seeing esports professor positions advertised and this fits with the start of September and back to school too, which was not at all intentional) – so today we are talking about esports degrees for job roles other than being a pro player, and if this is actually a viable degree – spoiler alert, I'm not a big supporter of esports degrees. So, without further ado let’s hop into it!

The topic of esports education in terms of degrees and actual qualifications has baffled me for a while (we’re talking baffled me for over a year) because I find the need for an actual qualification quite confusing, most of the people I know/admire in esports do not have a qualification relating to esports in any way. A lot of the journalists and hosts have backgrounds in journalism (shocker) or a another writing background, many of the content team members you see at huge orgs are media degrees/qualified, and in case my point of an esports qualification not being needed to work in the industry wasn’t quite obvious enough – Medic who is a caster for League of Legends in Europe has a degree in medicine. Sooooo, there’s that. I’ve looked at these esports qualifications before and something I found notable is that on several of the pages for degrees or BTEC level (16-18 education), the course material isn’t set or is so varied that it is difficult to see what is actually being gained once the course is completed. This isn’t really all that surprising – how can you expect to teach content based on an industry that is still in its infancy and has been around for just over a decade?

A lot of the proposed content (if you can find a solid list – I’ll link the courses I refer to at the end as usual) is based on skill and strategy, enterprise, health and ‘much more’ (direct quote from the British Esports Pearson BTEC pamphlet I collected). I appreciate what they’re trying to do, unless you know where to look and who to talk to, esports does appear difficult to get into, so a qualification at college (16-18 education) isn’t a terrible idea. And aside from the questions surrounding course content, my issue isn’t really with the BTEC level of esports education like I said, at that level I think it is reasonable. My only question when this course is completed at BTEC level, would be whether you then have to pursue a degree in esports too; would you be able to sign up for a different course were you to go to university, with one esports course from college as opposed to multiple subjects that are offered through other forms of education? Though this admittedly relates more to how the UK colleges run their system – as at several of the colleges local to me, you could only take one course and no A-levels, whereas some colleges allow a mix of A-levels and BTECs.

A big portion of my issue lies in the degree standard education that is being put forward by a lot of ex polytechnic universities (any university in the UK that isn’t one of the Russell Group – which are the top UK universities). The degree content is frequently noted as subject to change or with notes that certain modules may not run, and while it’s great that these unis are willing to spend thousands on state of the art facilities – who wouldn’t want a state of the art gaming facility on their doorstep, I’m failing to see what is actually being gained from this. The degrees are the equivalent of an umbrella of the entire industry, overarching everything and trying to cover literally everything in many cases, with very corny module titles (for example ‘ready player 2’), umbrella degrees aren’t inherently bad, but when esports is so vast and so many roles are covered, it is difficult to understand which area a graduate is going to go into. Especially as the university courses I looked at, were differing in modules (standard practice) but without a clear outline nationally for the course, this raises the question (rightly) among employers and organisations of what an esports graduate has actually learnt for the past three years. Not to mention, there is no mention of what games are going to be used on the course as a whole especially to do with the caster/broadcast analysis modules that are put forward. All esport games and therein the tournaments for these games will operate differently and unless the student can choose the game their lecturer discusses and expects them to work on, how relevant is the course and the wider degree to preparing students wanting to go into industry?

To give an example (and to ensure I don’t just sound bitter that I'm not doing one of these degrees), the module list on a course titled Esports and Livestreaming, is varied to the point of confusing, first year modules include content on game play skill, marketing, and sport psychology – now my understanding of this could be completely wrong, but a lot of the sport and nutrition based roles seen in esports are based on someone having a solid degree in that one topic e.g. sport psychology, nutrition, sports rehabilitation and so on. These modules are a great basis for a college course – where a speciality isn’t needed, and it would be an equally good foundation year to do a joint honour degree of esports and something, but for a role in esports it’s hard to believe an org would be happy with six months studying nutrition and let you loose on the players dietary plans. Moving onto year two modules, there is again more content on the business side and marketing – fair enough these makes sense – but then with the additional content of ‘casting and streaming’ and sports leadership (to note two modules specifically). This is where I'm once again lost, you can teach casting and streaming but I'm inclined to suggest that raw talent and passion are topics that cannot be taught and while you can teach streaming programmes and leadership, as corny as it sounds not everyone is going to fit into the role of a leader. Moreover, if you want to be a streamer, why wouldn’t you Google what to do and then start and learn on the go? There are tons of YouTube videos, Twitch is free, Streamlabs Obs is also free. This doesn’t seem necessary as a module.

Ok final year modules, journalism practice (which I can only assume is teaching esports writing) – this one in particular annoys me specifically for one reason, I hate to point out the bleeding obvious, but I'm an esports writer, I run a blog and have worked for teams, no one taught me how to do that and I didn’t crash and burn in my first week so this module seems redundant. Esports writing in my opinion is about understanding written voice, when to be formal, when to be relaxed, etc. from my memory of GCSE English, this was covered. This isn’t needed as a module. And if you want to be an esports writer, then the same theory applies if you wanted to be a magazine writer, run a blog, create content, market content, build a portfolio to show to companies. If one of these professors would like to explain to me this module I would honestly love to discuss it, because from an outsider perspective, unless this module is all bust fast tracking students into high ranking esports news outlets, it seems unnecessary and filling time. Another notable module was titled ‘rise of esports’ ok, this one does make sense, but to state the obvious, why is this third-year content? This should have been year one, it’s a bit late to mention right before someone graduates how the esports industry rose to the position it is in today. So that this cannot be argued to be complaining about just one university’s course, I’ve checked out a few others, another degree offers modules in community management – I understand teaching the basics (such as moderation of servers and answering complaints on social media), but beyond that I’d love to know what is actually being taught, what can be taught outside of dealing with complaints and learning to manage Discord servers? Furthermore, a module on content creation. I have friends who have built whole jobs from their content creation and based their ‘education’ off YouTube – do we really need a whole module on creating content? A lot of this to me seems like topics that can’t really be taught no matter how good of a professor you are, you have to be driven by passion and dedication – another set of principles that cannot be taught and there is also an element of do it and find out as you go along which is a great way to learn and could be more effective than a professor standing in the lecture theatre.

I'm all in favour of the rhetoric that degrees offer transferable skills, analytical skills, essay writing skills, research skills, etc. these all feature heavily in degrees and are transferable without a doubt – I use these skills to run this blog that you are reading right now (thanks for reading by the way!) but a whole degree in esports, with these modules is actually incomprehensible – I am going to discuss later how I would run an esports degree if I was actually running one (all about solutions here not just complaining) but I am baffled by a lot of this degree content. Some of the modules do make sense such as competitive gaming culture, esports analytics, rise of esports, etc. these modules don’t seem misplaced but this is immediately countered by modules such as content creation which frankly just makes no sense. I can only hope that a content creation module teaches video editing, video producing and so on, as opposed to what the title implies of the basics of how to create content (which we could find on YouTube if we are being honest).

I’ve seen on so many threads where esports people have been talking about how people wanting to run esports companies and teams need people with a background in esports, which is completely correct. Someone with a business degree won’t necessarily understand the intricacies of the industry. So of course, experienced people are needed, but that background in esports should be coming from actual experience, a piece of paper doesn’t equate to experience or indeed understanding – making a lot of these degrees seem pretty redundant and like the 27k+ (and the rest that was spent) a waste of money. This probably sounds really harsh as I rip these courses apart but genuinely this is confusing as to how anyone is looking at these degrees and thinking this is the perfect way to help people into esports and gaming as a career path when all the courses seem very mismatched and poorly placed to help students. Not least because in some videos it was mentioned how universities were attempting to almost scare monger students into taking a degree to pursue esports because universities were claiming an esports degree will be a ‘necessity’ in the future.

There is no argument that there needs to be a way to help those with no clue how to, get into esports, there definitely needs to be – if I didn’t have friends in esports I wouldn’t be in the position I'm in today, the advice of those already in the industry was a huge benefit for me when I started applying for roles – but I don’t think these solely esports degrees are the way to do it. If you are interested in pursuing an esports degree, then some of the sources I looked at put forward a sensible solution, an esports degree as joint honours with something else, so that it isn’t a pigeon-holed degree, and if esports falls through then there is something else to fall back on for the time being. Or doing a ‘standard’ degree e.g. one subject that does not fully relate to esports but doing something alongside those studies to create a portfolio to then apply to jobs for. I'm biased on this one, but I agree with this policy, my degree is a sociology degree, which does not relate to esports on the face of it, but I run this blog and this is my portfolio of work – so this policy of working on the goal of working in esports alongside a degree is something I support a lot more than a degree in esports on its’ own.

Not to mention that a lot of these courses also unsurprisingly are lacking professors/staff members, having seen so many of these vacancies going around I decided to have a look into what is actually required to be a professor in esports at any given college/university within the UK. Here’s what I found, aside from the expected need for a PHD, it concerned me how little need for a solid understanding of esports was actually required e.g. having worked in esports. I decided to take a read of a few local unis to my home and across the country, who were advertising some of these positions. One requirement I saw on an application was ‘experience in competing in esports and knowledge of esports events’ firstly I want to preface this by saying this particular advert was actually more thorough than a lot I had previously seen – which couldn’t have given less of a toss if you had an esports background or not. But even so, ‘knowledge’ of the topic could mean literally anything between worked the last decade in esports since the beginning, worked for teams and programmes across the country/world, or had a quick Google before the interview. The lack of specificity is concerning when these people are supposed to be experts teaching future generations and helping these students into a dream esports role.

Furthermore, on this; I researched some of the professors teaching, almost all of those I came across note gaming and esports as a passion – fine, good that they are passionate about the industry but importantly and arguably very concerning is that most of these professors, lecturers and course directors are worth noting they do not have a background of working in esports. Gate keeping an industry is never a good idea, but the lack of work experience in esports from these professors concerns me. As noted before, ‘experience and knowledge’ covers such a vast array of perspectives and while passion is great, it’s still concerning that the experience part is not the most prominent on applications or on profiles of teaching staff. The fact there is such a void for these jobs also leads me to think that unis haven’t actually thought it through – which you can argue from how varied the content is and how the courses I mentioned earlier don’t overlap in many modules (which isn’t that abnormal in degrees) but for such a new degree it is still concerning. The reason these voids on these jobs – and the requirements which seem a little off the wall in some cases – concern me personally so much, is that in theory anyone could end up taking up these positions so long as they have a Masters or PHD.

A range of backgrounds and specialities on degrees are important, and seeing sociologists teaching esports isn’t necessarily the worst part, it’s the lack of experience that I find worrisome. You wouldn’t ask someone who has never done a surgery to do their first surgery and teach it to a room full of students, but we are fine with letting people who have never worked in esports teach a whole degree on it based off theory? No, it’s not the same, but that is the sort of difference we should be considering when staff profiles have no mention or experience of working in esports. Based on a lot of these applications, providing I achieved a Masters I could go and teach one of these courses, the same for many of my friends and colleagues from previous roles. The difference being that my friends, colleagues and I have worked in the industry while a lot of these professors haven’t – and the application requirements don’t note this as important. Concerning? Yes, quite concerning. So to recap quickly, not only is the content on these degrees, so overarching an employer wouldn’t be clear on what had been taught or indeed learnt, many of the professors do not have an esports background and providing they have the relevant education qualifications the universities don’t seem bothered by this. At this point, if universities are set on teaching these courses then they would be better to train up people who have worked in industry, to be professors and support them getting the required educational qualifications – at least that way there is experience not solely theory.

Ok final few points before I wrap this blog up, firstly I said earlier that I would say what I thought was key to an esports degree and how I would manage it were I asked to. As already said, I don’t think these degrees are a good idea, but as to how I would manage them – first year would be a foundation (as it should always be), the esports industry from conception to present, the analytics of esports, basics of business in esports, how video games go from being played for fun to being played professionally, the basics of esports tournaments and so on. Second year I would move the course more towards development, developing the business model, how organisations profit/fail/etc, developing tournaments for viewers and international viewership’s. Final year would be dissertation (as normal) and the final sets of content such as marketing, latter stage business development, tournament development and so on. Oh, and throughout I would make sure students were all active on building a portfolio alongside studies and active on Hitmarker to get actual industry experience, encouraging building a name for themselves in their respective field and opportunities to take once the piece of paper with their degree is in their hands and the grad cap has been thrown.

Secondly, this seems really obvious but thinking about it, I really want to put it in here, an esports degree doesn’t guarantee a job in esports. The whole discourse of esports degrees points this out but it seems to be forgotten as so many universities are pushing for this one degree. Similarly, taking a degree that doesn’t directly relate to esports won’t mean there is no possible route to get a job into esports, yes universities have to market their courses like crazy to get students through the door and bums on seats, but implying students won’t achieve a job in esports without the esports degree is nothing less than fear mongering and we’ve got enough of that in the world without universities getting in the mix. Esports degrees need some revisions (and necessary changes) before their universities start marketing them out of planet earth’s stratosphere; telling students they don’t need an esports degree won’t make the university money, but students need to hear it. Trust the process, network and make friends, ask those at the level where you want to be what they did (every esports person I’ve come across has always been friendly, helpful and sweet, from the amazing support staff at Chiefs, to Yinsu, to staff at ORDER and players, and so many more – asking gets you a long way). Trust the process is a cringey overused saying but there is some truth in it, and esports degrees are not on the same level as talking to people with actual experience and it’s those with actual experience who should be teaching.

So that’s all I have for you today, with some revisions (serious revision), and optional educational programmes that don’t force a degree in esports but open up routes into esports industry, I think esports education could become better than it currently is. Plus a serious push and focus on the need for people from all backgrounds in esports and degrees in specialist areas aforementioned e.g. psychology, nutrition, journalism, sports rehab, media and so on, so that students aren’t sold the rhetoric of only one way into esports – esports needs to be easier to understand how to get into it but this shouldn’t be at the cost of fear mongering students. And in an industry where practical experience is so important, those with experience should be those education the next generation wanting to break into the same industry. Theory vs experience – experience wins out. So there we are, a blog on esports degrees and why they’re not the best idea ever had but with changes being made, could definitely improve. As said earlier, if any professors of esports would like to talk me through their course, the content, how they teach content whether they worked in esports or not, etc. etc. I’d love to have a chat.

Thanks for reading, and see you on the next blog!

Byeeeeee ʕ •ᴥ•ʔ

Notables Sources of Info –

Esports Talk YouTube Esports Degree Does NOT Mean Esports Job –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMeLsvIhaBk

Devin Nash YouTube Should You Get An Esports Degree? –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clHrhmZHBBU

Staffordshire University Esports Degree BA –

https://www.staffs.ac.uk/course/esports-ba#contents

University of Northampton Esports Degree BSc –

https://www.northampton.ac.uk/courses/esports-bsc-hons/

Falmouth University Esports and Livestreaming BA –