University of Auckland gears up for Esports opportunities
“Esports
is
a
massive
industry
not
only
for
gamers
but
for
supporting
industries
such
as
event
management,
media
broadcasting,
game
development
and
creative
arts,”
he
adds.
“Esports
is
a
massive
industry
not
only
for
gamers
but
for
supporting
industries
such
as
event
management,
media
broadcasting,
game
development
and
creative
arts,”
he
adds.
“By
creating
the
arena,
the
students
get
a
flavour
of
what
it
would
be
like
and
can
explore
career
opportunities
that
are
beyond
traditional
roles
in
the
market.”
The
university
is
also
exploring
how
they
might
incorporate
Esports
into
the
academic
curriculum
and
research.
“Universities
in
the
USA
and
UK
are
incorporating
Esports
in
academia,”
says
Kumar.
“There
are
papers
around
game
development
and
software
engineering,
so
we
want
to
ensure
we
support
and
guide
our
academics
in
this
new
era,
and
at
the
same
time
support
the
students
to
not
only
get
exposure
to
the
arena
but
understand
the
academic
aspects
of
the
industry.”
There
may
be
possibilities
for
research
from
various
disciplines
as
well,
he
adds.
That
could
be
everything
from
health
science
or
computer
science
students
doing
research
on
game
programming
and
analysis
to
creative
arts
students
designing
game
characters.
UoA
has
been
engaging
with
several
universities,
including
Waikato
and
the
University
of
Cincinnati
to
get
ideas
of
what
has
and
hasn’t
worked
with
their
Esports
arenas,
which
has
helped
cement
their
approach
to
setting
up
the
arena
currently
open
eight
hours
a
day,
with
a
view
to
expand
later
in
the
evening.
“Physical
access
and
security
were
a
large
consideration
that
we
undertook
when
choosing
the
location
of
the
arena,
which
is
in
a
prime
spot
of
our
city
campus
and
a
hub
to
most
key
faculty
buildings,”
says
Kumar.
“There
are
multiple
entry
points
from
which
you
can
come
to
the
arena’s
main
entrance
and
our
campus
security
team’s
office
is
opposite
on
Symonds
Street,
should
they
need
to
intervene
quickly.”
The
arena,
which
currently
has
capacity
for
50
users
a
day,
is
frequently
booked
out
by
students
and
he
adds
they
have
measures
to
ensure
pastoral
care
is
in
place
especially
if
a
student
is
spending
a
lot
of
time
in
the
arena.
Longer-term,
the
team
wants
to
expand
the
arena
to
the
new
recreation
centre
that
is
currently
being
built
next
door.
“At
the
moment,
the
plans
for
that
are
still
being
drawn
up
but
it
could
be
an
extension
of
the
current
arena,
which
could
largely
be
our
broadcasting
and
viewing
area,”
he
says.
“It
could
also
look
to
host
elevated
events
which
otherwise
would
need
to
be
hosted
at
facilities
such
as
Trusts
Stadium
or
Spark
Arena.
We’re
already
running
competitions
but
we’re
looking
at
hosting
world-class
competitions
and
bringing
in
famous
e-athletes
to
our
shores.
UoA
believes
that
it
has
a
full
ecosystem
to
support
these
competitions.”
With
the
Esports
industry
on
track
to
make
more
money
than
many
other
sporting
codes,
it’s
a
worthy
goal
to
have.
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