Program Overview

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Esports and Society: Strategic Insights for the Modern Market

Course Overview

This course offers a comprehensive examination of the esports industry. Students will gain insights into the professional roles within esports, the key factors driving the success of esports games, and the strategic use of data for business and societal impact. The course also delves into the broader societal implications of esports, equipping students with the knowledge to navigate the challenges and opportunities within this rapidly growing industry.

Course Content

• Module 1: Professional Roles and Career Development in Esports This module provides a strategic overview of the various professional roles within the esports industry, with a particular emphasis on the career pathways of professional players and other key stakeholders.
• Module 2: Analyzing Esports Game Success and Market Dynamics In this module, students will explore the critical factors that contribute to the success of esports games, gaining a deeper understanding of game design principles and market dynamics that drive consumer engagement and profitability.
• Module 3: Leveraging Esports Data for Strategic Insights This module focuses on the application of esports data in business and societal contexts. Students will learn how to harness data analytics to inform strategic decisions and address broader industry challenges.
• Module 4: Societal Impact and Strategic Challenges in Esports The final module examines the intersection of esports and society, with a focus on identifying and navigating the strategic challenges and opportunities that arise from this relationship. Students will discuss how to enhance the industry's appeal to a broader audience while addressing its societal impact.

Description of Qualifications

The course will focus on understanding the importance of the esports industry. Specifically, the course describes the various employment possibilities, the opportunities for empirical research (data availability), some key factors for esport games, and societal issues.

At the end of the class, students should have:

• Knowledge of:
  • The esports industry and a better understanding of its potential
  • The societal opportunities and challenges of the esports industry
  • The possibilities of using data for esports and societal questions
  • Factors that influence how esport games perform
  • The variety of employment opportunities
• Skills to:
  • Describe cornerstones of the industry accurately and understandably to the general public
  • Understand societal challenges and to set them into context
  • Demonstrate the possibilities that esports data has for important societal questions
  • Recognize opportunities that esports provides for other industries
• Competences to:
  • Critically analyze and evaluate the esports industry's dynamics, including the potential of esports games, key factors influencing its success, and the societal implications and challenges it presents
  • Communicate effectively the core aspects of the esports industry, making complex concepts accessible and understandable to a general audience
  • Focus on specific aspects, analyze them in detail, and provide a concise overview of the topic

Teaching

• Form of instruction: Classroom instruction
• Instructor: Cornel Nesseler
• Course coordinator: Mai Skjøtt Linneberg

Comments on the Form of Instruction

Examples for students (include but are not limited to):

• Case studies
• Experiments
• Group work

During class, we use:

• Quizzes
• Lecture slides
• Videos

Literature

The literature can be separated into three parts:

1. Classic academic research articles. For example:
   • Nesseler, C., & Shtrum, V. (2024). War and Esport: The Russian Invasions Impact on the Performance of Ukrainian and Russian Professional Players. Games and Culture.
2. Books written with the perspective of an academic. For example:
   • Taylor, T. L. (2018). Watch me play. In Watch Me Play. Princeton University Press.
3. Books written for the general public. For example:
   • Schreier, J. (2017). Blood, sweat, and pixels: The triumphant, turbulent stories behind how video games are made. New York: Harper.

Examination

• Form of examination: Take-home assignment (Assign)
• Form of co-examination: No co-examination
• Assessment: 7-point grading scale
• Permitted exam aids: All

Requirements for Taking the Exam

In order to participate in the exam, there is an 80% attendance requirement.

Comments

The exam consists of a portfolio of written assignments, which students work on during the course. The assignments are individual, and students receive collective feedback before submitting a finalized version for grading.

The finalized version should contain all assignments in one PDF-file and be submitted through WISEflow at the end of the course. The portfolio consists of the following 3 assignments:

• Assignment 1: Game assessment Choose one game and assess it based on the variables we discussed in the lecture. Describe in which areas the game out- and underperformed. 7,200 characters maximum.
• Assignment 2: Paper Use data to answer a question that is interesting for an esports company, the industry, or society (for example: “Are players expelled for unfair behaviour in CS:GO?”) The paper consists of abstract, introduction, literature review, data and method section, discussion, and conclusion. 24,000 characters maximum.
• Assignment 3: Briefly describe a popular game and how it makes money. Think about an alternative approach that players might prefer that is still beneficial to the publisher. 4,800 characters maximum.

The final portfolio should be no longer than 36,000 characters (incl. blanks) excluding references.

Re-exam

Re-exam: written take-home exam (max. 36,000 characters including spaces).

The dates for the first retake are:

• 27th October .00 noon: You will receive your exam question via WISEflow.
• 3rd November noon: Deadline for submitting via WISEflow.

The dates for the second retake are:

• January 30th .00 noon: You will receive your exam question via WISEflow.
• February 6th .00 noon: Deadline for submitting via WISEflow.

The format for the second re-take is the same as for the re-take.

Expected Student Workload

• Classroom attendance: 52 hours
• Preparation: 75 hours
• Feedback activity: 5 hours
• Papers (prerequisites): 15 hours
• Exam: 10 hours

The workload distribution may vary between courses due to differences in teaching practices and exam formats.

Type of Course

• Type of course: Summer University
• Primary programme: Bachelor's Degree Programme in Economics and Business Administration
• Related programmes: Bachelor's Degree Programme in Business Administration and Commercial Law
• Department: Department of Management
• Faculty: Aarhus BSS
• Location: Aarhus
• Maximum number of participants: Maximum 40 participants.
  • 10 seats are reserved for international exchange students from AU partner universities.
  • If there are more eligible applicants than available seats, they will be distributed according to the overall selection criteria and then the following selection criteria:
    • Randomized draw.

Note

This course has overlapping course content with the course U031 Sports Economics. Therefore, students may not enroll in more than one of these courses (applies to previous years as well).