Esports has grown ten-fold in just over five years to a staggering global business. The games themselves have engaged players and viewers alike with developers and publishers always searching for the next big, competitive product. This module focuses on the mechanics and conventions of competitive games design, allowing you to conceptualise your own ideas in relation to competitive esports games. This knowledge and understanding of how games mechanically work and why we play them is essential to game design, and will support the conceptualisation of/within your own game portfolio.

Being able to understand the importance of technology in esports broadcasting is essential for those working in the esports events industry. This module will allow you to explore the technical theory involved in broadcast technology for esports, whilst developing your practical skills working with equipment.

During this module you’ll undertake appropriate self-directed projects, working collaboratively on creative concepts, allowing you to directly apply the knowledge and skills learnt throughout the programme in the context of the workplace. This module aims to develop your overall professionalism and provide you with the knowledge and resources to begin a career in both the esports and creative industries. The nature of creative industries is increasingly defined by freelance and self-employed models of work. Consequently, individuals seeking work in industry need to appreciate the pressures of working on multiple projects to strict deadlines and the subsequent demands this places on time and resources. Similarly, an understanding of professional practice and the legal and economic imperatives in industry is important, as is effective communication, self-efficacy and autonomy. This module aims to develop these skills by challenging you to develop a range of self-directed projects.

This module focuses on event management through a range of key areas. You’ll study core event-planning strategies which include resource management and allocation, audience research and the user experience, and digital media production technologies, teaching you how to effectively push the event experience and journey to audiences.

You’ll further your knowledge of all the associated event production technology required to deliver a live esports event including broadcast, live sound, stage lighting, live video and streaming technologies. You’ll work with a range of technical and mathematical data to study and design the technology configurations that can support a live esports event. This module will have a strong practical emphasis in a workshop environment that will allow you to practise and evaluate skills and techniques using industry-standard technology and software. It is expected that you’ll specialise in one or more areas of production technology, and by working collaboratively you will have the skillset and understanding to deliver a successful esports event as a production team.

This module provides you with the opportunity to undertake sustained investigation into a specific area of live esports production and broadcast, building on your previous knowledge, experience and skills acquired during Levels 4 and 5. This module will allow you to critically explore a specific issue or area of personal interest within your chosen field. You will achieve this by undertaking a self-initiated practical research project supported by tutor supervision. As part of this investigation, you’ll also enhance your abilities to communicate your findings with an audience and consolidate your skills in project management and self-directed work, both of which are vital for a career within the creative media industries. The module serves to acquaint you with the key skills and practices required to undertake and complete an independent research project. The module will also enable you to understand the role of Intellectual Property (IP) in supporting the creative economy and how you can identify and legally protect your ideas and innovations. The module will offer an insight into how you can manage and license your IP, and what you do if someone else uses your ideas or without your permission.

This module encompasses all that you have learned throughout your studies into a final major project. The project is based on the development of a live esports exhibition drawing in a variety of guests, sponsors, performances and tournaments. To achieve this, you’ll engage with a number of live events, from which you will critically analyse  and evaluate techniques, and apply them to the design of your own event. You’ll focus on a core area of this event and apply innovation with technology, work collaboratively with other course areas, and as a result be the driving force behind a large-scale esports spectacle.