Staffordshire University has become the first establishment in the United Kingdom to offer an esports degree. Those that choose to study the course will graduate after three years with a BA (Hons) in Esports.
The course outline emphasises that the degree focuses on the business of esports. It suggests that prospective students will learn how to host small and large scale events, as well as creating business plans on how to develop teams, create online communities and promote events through digital marketing. It also will allow students to “explore the culture of eSports, its audience and fan base and different game genres that make up the most popular in current times”.
It’s safe to say that UK tuition costs are far from a bargain. Fees sit at up to £9,250 per year, so to study the three year course at the University of Staffordshire it will cost students in excess of £27,000 – a fairly staggering figure. Of course, student loans are available to most which should help cover the cost but it remains to be seen whether the investment will prove truly worthwhile.
The full course outline reads as follows:
- In Year 1, you’ll be introduced to eSports Cultures and learn about streaming techniques and layouts. You will learn about the business of competitive gaming, event marketing and work towards organising your first eSports event.
- In year 2 you’ll continue your studies of event management to develop and deliver a team based eSports event. You will learn about the technical set up that’s required to deliver these events along with Public Relations to promote the event and about casting and hosting your own event.
- In the final year you will become totally immersed in eSports events and develop a large scale commercial event from start to finish. You will also learn about games community management and the legal issues involved with eSports before finally creating business plans for your own eSports company.
There are no details on the academics leading the course, and the three year plan seems fairly vague. Whilst the degree may sound more fun than studying Economics – whether it’s worth the investment and how valuable the learning will be remains in question.
The course is currently “Subject to Validation” which is the label given to those courses awaiting full approval. As soon as the award is validated, this tag will be removed. However, the University does recommend contacting the Admissions Office to confirm the course will be running.
Full details of the course can be found here.
Esports Insider says: This is certainly an interesting idea, although we do urge caution when considering this. It would be good to know who will be imparting esports wisdom and thus whether it’s worth doing the course. Whether a degree in esports is really necessary also is questionable but that can be said about many a discipline.