Esports appeal to millions worldwide and have observable social, political, and economic impacts. This influence presents unique opportunities for academia and industry to examine a variety of topics. Research on esports continues to grow in both volume and complexity while the industry continues to refine itself as both a profession and a cultural force. Following the success of an esports summit in 2016, the 2018 Esports Research Conference (ESC 2018) was the first conference of its kind to focus on esports research and practice inclusive of both academics and industry professionals. Created to provide a space for esports researchers and industry leaders to come together to present research, discuss topics relevant to future work, celebrate collaboration in the growing field, and build bridges between the many communities that make up the field of esports.
ESC is the premier academic research conference in the field of esports. Building on our success last year, ESC 2019 aims to foster substantive discussion about competitive video game play, bringing together leading thinkers across both academia and industry. Each year, we foster in-depth conversation and networking across diverse disciplines including informatics, computer science, cognitive science, game studies, sociology, sports science, communication arts, and business.
Conference highlights include keynotes by leaders in both academia and industry, interactive workshops on research and program design, individual and symposia presentations, big debates about critical aspects of esports, a massively multiplayer evening poster session over hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, fireside chats that enable cozy conversations among VIP speakers and attendees, and the finest fiercest friendly competition among collegiate esports teams in our evening esports invitational event.
ESC aims to bring the communities and people of this growing phenomenon together to foster debate and collaboration through esports research.
