Workshop in Singapore

Prof. KK Luke, Nanyang Technological University

Associate Prof. Vivian Chen, Nanyang Technological University

Max Sjöblom, Tampere University of Technology

e-Sports: The New Face of Game Media

–        e-Sports as a concept and phenomenon has existed for close to 20 years, but only in recent years has e-sports transitioned to the mainstream, partially due to another emerging form of online media: game streaming and game video production. The talk will focus around three main topics.

Firstly, the general concept of e-sports will be presented, and we will explore the motivations for consuming e-sports, both online and through live attendance. This will be based on quantitative research published in venues such as Computers in Human Behavior and Internet Research, conducted by Sjöblom.

Secondly, we will delve into the world of game streaming (Twitch) and game videos (YouTube), from both the producer and consumer side. We will look at consumption motivations from the consumer side, while from the producer side, we will investigate the affordances used by producers, as well as the motivating factors behind their behavior.

Thirdly, we will go into more speculative thoughts about the future of e-sports and game media.

Q&A

Mia Consalvo, Concordia University

The business and culture of live streaming on Twitch: Evolving paradigms

–        This talk draws from a multi-year investigation of live streaming on the internet site Twitch.tv, where individuals can broadcast themselves playing videogames to a global audience. This investigation began with a seemingly simple question: how does live streaming change the act of gameplay?

To find answers, a team of researchers has identified and viewed dozens of streamers and hundreds of hours of gameplay, interviewed both casual and committed streamers, including those who see it as their full time job as well as a hobby, live streamed their own gameplay to understand the affordances and constraints of the process, and also investigated the larger culture of live streaming and the business of Twitch and its related industry.

This research — and the talk — explain how live streaming is a constantly evolving practice and Twitch itself is a key business engaged in monetizing play in particular ways. It examines who streams and why, how gameplay practices like success, failure, skill and persistence are re-shaped by live streaming, and how the business practices of not just Twitch but related companies are re-forming play and players in concerning ways. These practices are related to the rise of the gig economy and precarious labor more broadly, as well as the increasing role of technology and always online connectivity in our daily lives.

Q&A

Facilitator Intro

–        Ryan Tan – eSports Director (Avalon), Coach and Manager (Duskbin eSports), Community Manager (Garena)

The role of online streaming and casting in e-sports

–        Mohan “Lorec” Deitrich – e-sports media and stream manager

–        Leonard “OMO” Loh – e-sports caster and team manager

–        Ruth Lim (SCOGA Coach)

–        Maria Kristin Braberry – Competitive Gamer (Asterisk*) and Narrative Designer (BattleBrew Productions)

Q&A

Nicholas Khoo – Chairman & Co-Founder, SCOGA

e-sports in Singapore

Steven “Amzeyy” Koh – Avalon eSports Pro-gamer

e-sports in SEA

Amitesh Rao, Nova Games

The challenges of building e-sports communities in emerging markets

–        India is a country with over a billion people, 4 million active PC gamers, and nearly 100 million mobile gamers. Yet the gaming industry remains embryonic, fragmented and largely undeveloped. E-sports in particular has been touted to be the next big thing for several years now but has yet to garner the attention, engagement and viewership that insiders in the industry have been hoping for.

There are several challenges which I believe are not unique to India but to several emerging economies that are keeping the inflection point at bay — infrastructural, economic, and cultural. This presentation will investigate some of the challenges, and possible solutions to them that are needed to build healthy, robust and self-sustaining eSports communities in emerging markets.

–        Leonard “OMO” Loh – e-sports caster and team manager

–        Ruth Lim (SCOGA Coach)

–        Nicholas Khoo – Chairman & Co-Founder, SCOGA

–        Steven “Amzeyy” Koh – Avalon eSports Pro-gamer

–        Maria Braberry – Pro-gamer & Narrative Designer

–        Amitesh Rao, Nova Games

–        Mia Consalvo, Concordia University

–        Max Sjoblom, Tampere University of Technology

–        Olli Tapio Leino, City University of Hong Kong

Facilitators: Vivian Chen and Ryan Tan

Vivian Chen, NTU

Frans Mäyrä, University of Tampere

Evolution and Tensions in Gaming Communities

–        e-Sports is one of the most notable social phenomena around digital games in the 21st century. There are large audiences involved; e.g., it was reported that the “Intel Extreme Masters World Championship 2017” event reached more than 46 million unique online viewers, and that there were more than 173,000 attendees participating live in Katowice, Poland. But are these phenomena rooted, or promoting genuine community formation — and what constitutes a “gaming community”, more generally?

In his talk, Professor Frans Mäyrä will have a look at research and outline whether games are capable of supporting true communities, and talk about the consequences of such gaming communities or social formations, including both game-internal consequences, and for societal life, outside of the gaming reality. Referring to some recent studies about game playing in culture and society, and of e-sports, the talk will conclude with reflections about the multifaceted character of participation in game cultures, also dealing with the tensions and potential for cultural conflicts that it can contain.

Q&A

Olli Tapio Leino, City University of Hong Kong

Commodified technological play/work: eSports, free-to-play, and gamification

–        Traditional theories of play (e.g., Huizinga, Fink, Callois, Suits) consider play as free, frivolous, and creative experimentation, non-productive and risk-free in regard to anything apart from itself. For example, Fink described play as an “oasis of happiness”, offering a respite to individuals burdened by hardships of productive activities. Through encounters with contemporary forms of “commodified play”, such as e-sports, free-to-play games, and gamification applications, computer game studies has come to terms with the fact that the traditional notions of games, play, and playing appear romantic, and may not always be applicable for the purpose of defining and describing contemporary forms of technological play.

In more detail, on the one hand, the technological materiality of computer games does not always afford the creative self-discovery at the heart of play and may instead give rise only to rote repetition formally indistinguishable from unskilled work.  On the other hand, the ways in which contemporary forms of computer gaming are culturally and economically entangled with useful endeavors in society renders inapplicable the description of play as non-productive.

In this talk, I draw upon the recent research on computer games by myself and my collaborators, including mixed-method ethnography on gamers, research for public policy on gaming, and, textual-hermeneutic studies of computer games. I describe how contemporary forms of commodified play challenge the traditional definitions and descriptions of play, how gamers negotiate the slippage between play and work in their experiences, and, how the society is beginning to embrace this new, productive form of play/work.

Q&A

Patrick Williams, NTU, and Csilla Weninger, NIE

Youth Cultures and Careers in Singapore’s Emerging Digital Economies

–        In this brief talk, we will share some emerging plans related to the entrepreneurial activities through which young Singaporeans leverage digital media to combine their leisure interests with productive labor. Examples of such entrepreneurial activities include e-sports participation, livestreaming and uploading gameplay, various forms of vlogging from health and fitness to unboxing videos, and establishing social influence through social media platforms. Our research questions deal with three sets of concerns: connections between entrepreneurial youth cultures and larger socio-cultural processes and structures; processes of defining and learning appropriate digital media skills; and the social and personal outcomes of these entrepreneurial activities. In the talk, we will tie these concerns existing theory and research on youth cultures and digital literacies, as well as explain some of methodological choices.

Q&A

Vivian Chen, NTU