This introductory course will provide students with an overview of the e-sports industry. Students will begin with an exploration of the historic rise of e-sports and discuss where it may be going. Students will also be learning how business practices shape and evolve the development, distribution, and consumption of this type of interactive entertainment. Lastly, students will explore career paths within e-sports with a special focus on understanding the breadth and depth of working in this part of the sport business industry. The goal of this course is to give students interested in e-sports a better understanding of the overall ecosystem, trends, drivers of change and key industry players.

It is widely understood that esports has a unique culture that includes norms, trends, and behavioral protocols. These and other social issues have created varying perceptions of the industry depending on a wide variety of factors. When developing your esports business it is imperative that you understand how to design and organize the human resources side of your business. During this course you will explore the culture, stakeholder management, and governance as important areas that can provide positive and negative outcomes in the competitive space of esports and gaming.

The world of esports is a dynamic and digital space that offers professionals the opportunity to work in an exciting marketing environment. From commercials and advertisements shown on Twitch to influencers promoting products on social media, marketing has been central to the efforts to introduce, increase, and enhance the consumption of esports and gaming goods and services. At the completion of your course, you will have a greater understanding of the principles and practices underpinning marketing activities, with an emphasis on exploring topics not often discussed in mainstream marketing.

This course is designed to provide students with a greater understanding of the design and operations of eSport. Students apply critical thinking and problem solving skills to current and potential eSports event and venue industry issues. Emphasis is on applying managerial principles, professional communication and ethical practices within national and international eSports venues and events.

Game design is as much a creative process as it is an analytical one. A well-designed game will keep your players interested and thereby improve your sales and overall bottom line. In this entry-level game design course, you will learn the fundamental elements of game design using a frame developed by one of the top game designers Riot Games. Students will learn a step-by-step process whereby they will make the decisions necessary to develop a great game. Ultimately, this course will ask you to use your knowledge of game design concepts like goals, types of fun, rules, and interaction to create your own multiplayer game. This course is not intended to develop students into designers, but moreover, to help them understand the process so they can manage a team of designers in the future.

The eSports Experience offers students an intensive, term-long, project-based experiential learning opportunity conducted under the supervision of a faculty member. Experiences are driven by a specific industry-based or a functional area-based project completed for a partner or independently. Through weekly group seminar meetings, extensive fieldwork (independent and/or group-based) and purposeful reflection, students apply acquired discipline-specific skills and knowledge, develop leadership and collaborative abilities and refine critical thinking, problem-solving and active citizenship skills. The course culminates in a formal presentation and deliverables to the partner, class, or Monroe staff.