The event was joined by Sheffield-based esports industry guests including Endpoint Esports, who will be contributing to the delivery of the new Esports Management course, Lava Esports Centre, the National Videogame Museum, as well as professional players and students.
Guests got to see the new facilities in use including Hallam students and the Endpoint team competitively gaming and the studio and gallery with a green screen and mixing desk streaming live commentary to big screens and a Twitch channel.
The new Esports Management course blends the established subject areas of event management, broadcasting and journalism with esports culture, content creation and business management.
Nana Nyarko, course leader for esports management said: “We are very excited about the new SHU Esports Lab which will serve as a digital hub for our Esports students. It will enhance a variety of learning opportunities for the students, helping them to develop key technology and creative digital skills that lead to a brighter future.
“The space is also for the students to gather separately as a community to encourage them to socialise and utilise the space as a flexible learning environment. It also serves as both a practice facility for SHU Esports society team with a viewing area where spectators can watch matches.”
Research has shown that the esports market is estimated to grow to be worth £1.4bn by 2025, having contributed £111.5 million in gross value to the UK economy throughout 2019-2020.
Peter Thompson, COO of Endpoint added: "For Endpoint, a Sheffield based company, this is an opportunity to help out with course fulfilment and giving local esports enthusiasts a chance at work experience and gaining real industry experience while completing their studies, ready for the working world afterwards!"
Elise Pierson, current Sheffield Hallam esports management student said: “I think the biggest thing about Sheffield investing all this money into this studio is the fact that they're really taking our course seriously. A lot of the time when you tell people you study esports management, you get a bit of a weird look, they think you just sit around playing games, which isn't what we do at all. It's just a bit of confirmation that we are being taken seriously as we should be. It's also somewhere that we have as our own place for our course. Every other kind of course or department has their own area or place in the university and now we finally have ours.”
