At the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, e-sports made its debut as an official competition for the first time. Seven games, League of Legends, Honor of Kings (Asian Games version), Peace Elite (Asian Games version), Dota 2, Dream Three Kingdoms 2, Street Fighter 5 and FIFA Online4, are making their debut at the Asian Games. Moreover, this is the only event in this Asian Games that requires a lottery to buy tickets, and the ticket price is also very high, which shows the popularity of e-sports. So what schools can you go to for e-sports majors?
According to the "2022 Global E-sports and Game Live Market Report" released by Tencent, the revenue scale of global e-sports events in 2022 will reach 13$8.4 billion, and this figure will exceed $1.8 billion in 2025, growing at a CAGR of 134%。As the fan base has expanded and diversified, video games have gone from being "out of business" to becoming a must-have for brands. From professional players to star players, there is never a shortage of traffic.
Hou Miao, vice president of Tencent Games and general manager of Tencent Esports, said that according to the current development rate of the esports industry, the talent gap will reach 2 million or more in the next three to four years. In addition, if you want to become a professional esports player, you don't just need to rely on your hobby, you also need to go through professional training. The high quality of physiological conditions, consciousness response, teamwork, mental restraint and other aspects required by professional players is far from enough without high-intensity training and hardship. E-sports is not a bad way to Xi learn, it also requires talent and unlimited hard work. This also makes many people worry about whether they can find a job in the future if they study e-sports-related majors
In fact, in the hot esports industry, in addition to participating in the competition as a player, there are actually many related positions to choose from. For example, the management of the esports industry, esports technician, esports event producer, game analyst, event operation, commentator, esports**, coach, and many other options. With the global rise of the esports industry, it has become a large and hot market, and the demand for professional talent is increasing in the future!
What schools can I go to for esports majors?
1. New York University.
New York University (NYU) is one of the largest schools in the United States and is known as the New Ivy. NYU Game Center is one of the best game design programs in the United States, affiliated with New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
The Game Design major encompasses three main areas of game research, game design, and game development, as well as four production areas: programming, visual design, sound design, and game commerce, and is committed to exploring the cultural forms and creativity of games. NYU will invite League of Legends game designers to teach the course
NYU also has the very popular Spring Fighter Tournament, which is a one-day electronic fighting tournament.
But students in this major don't all play, they need to master the development and management of game programs, and they usually participate in seminars attended by dozens of well-known companies such as Microsoft, Nintendo, Apple, etc.
2. Carnegie Mellon University.
The game design program at Carnegie Mellon University is a major with a very good reputation in the United States. Students learn how to Xi write scenes using a variety of complex software, then animate them with scanning technology, and finally get a very realistic video.
CMU also offers summer school programs – Interaction and Design of Games, Art & Technology Networking, etc., which are open to both new students and minors, while in other schools, these courses are only accessible to students from related majors.
3. University of Southern California.
The University of Southern California, abbreviated as USC, is not only the first university in the United States to award a bachelor's degree in cinematic arts, but also the first institution to have a game label.
Thanks to the fact that USC is not far from some of the world's largest entertainment companies, in the field of interactivity** and games, USC students can follow up and participate in almost every game project. Surprisingly, USC has a scholarship sponsored by Blizzard Entertainment and even more inherently, there are very unique labs in the school.
For example, the Advanced Games Lab, MFA Thesis Lab, and Kinest Development Lab provide students with a professional workspace where they can learn Xi sound systems, stereoscopic game design, 3DS technology, and more.
USC also has events dedicated to game design students, such as the Annual Game Expo, the LA Game Conference, and Global Game JAMS, as an opportunity to network and showcase their work.
4. University of California, Irvine.
The University of California, Irvine, a public Ivy League school, ranks among the top 10 best public schools in the United States, the first university in the world to offer a professional degree in "esports management" and related scholarships, and a college e-sports club with professional team standards.
UC Irvine's Esports major is housed in the Department of Business Management and also offers ** courses consisting of 9 units and 90 semester hours. In addition, research on esports management has confirmed that it only takes 5 months to Xi study.
Students in this program will learn how Xi can work with prospective employers and other stakeholders in the industry to handle esports marketing, business, etc., and can also develop into industry decision-makers and use management skills and tools to initiate, plan, and execute esports live events.
5. St. Peter's University Business School.
The Saint Peter's University School of Business was one of the first universities in the United States to offer a specialization program in esports business and offered a bachelor's degree in business.
This degree focuses on the business aspects of esports, allowing students to gain skills in planning and strategy, event management, business development, marketing, and finance while immersing themselves in the culture of esports.
6. Shenandoah University.
Shenandoah University is the first university in the U.S. to offer a major in esports, and the BS program offers esports management minor, as well as esports media and communication tracks, as well as minors and certificates in esports performance studies.
All courses can be in line with the international field, and cooperate with large ** game companies to provide students with practical opportunities. Students will have the opportunity to gain quite a few very useful experiences in areas such as game management, esports marketing, etc.
Shenandoah esports team at Shenandoah University of Shenandoah participates in competitions organized by the National Collegiate Esports Association (NACE) every year, with about 30 members competing, including games such as League of Legends, Overwatch, and more.
7. University of Texas at Arlington.
The University of Texas at Arlington offers a certificate in esports management, which can be used on its own or as a secondary BBA, MBA degree in management and marketing. In general, students move from the introduction to esports, to esports business strategy, esports branding and marketing, and then to esports project management and team management.
Students in the program also have the opportunity to participate in Battle4Texas, a two-day spectator tournament held at Arlington's eSports Stadium and open to anyone of any age.
Founded in 2011, the University of Texas at Arlington's esports club (UTA Esports) has 125 active members and is considered one of the most active college societies in the United States, offering a total of 16 teams with nine different ** games.
Judging from the current development of e-sports, whether you want to be a professional player, or do behind-the-scenes game research and development, game scene design, etc., the future is very impressive!
Positioning of schools to study in the United States.
Want to know how many ranked colleges and universities in the United States can you apply to with your GPA score?You can try to use the study abroad volunteer reference system (the following applet) to do the study abroad positioning.
How to use: Enter your basic information (GPA, IELTS score, major, college background, etc.) into the study abroad volunteer reference system, and the system will automatically match the cases of classmates with similar situations to you from the database, and see which universities they have successfully applied to in the United States, so that you can accurately locate yourself.