“Don’t waste your money”: Unraveling the stigma of esports degrees in higher education

“Professional gaming” is an industry that continues to confuse the masses, but as we move out of the era of billionaire sports-backed ventures closing in esports winter and begin relying on talent bred in the space, where is the pipeline? Can we rely solely on attracting hobbyists to push esports forward with businesses, tournaments, and hundreds of thousands of working roles?

Well, yes, but as with every industry, education will push that even further.

Last month, the BBC did a deep dive into what esports students actually learn at university, and, to little surprise, it’s not all shooting and looting. In fact, an esports degree covers a multitude of different areas within the industry, ranging from event management, broadcasting, player management (including health and nutrition regimes), video production, and psychology.

Yet, they ultimately summarised that: “Education courses can provide a strong foundation for those careers, but practical experience is equally important,” through the voice of Rocket League Commonwealth Games winner India “Alanis” Browne.

The idea of esports degrees isn’t a new phenemenon and has been on the rise for years, with countless universities in the UK offering courses – a quick look on The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) shows 74 available courses to be enrolled in for next year, ranging from broad “Esports” degrees at the University of Staffordshire to the narrower “Esports Enterprise and Management” Diploma of Higher Education courses at the University of Salford.

[Editor’s Note: For us United States dopes, there are plenty of opportunities as well. You can earn a B.S. in Esports Management, Production, and Performance at Harrisburg University, a B.S. in Esports at the University of North Dakota – including specific tracks like coaching and graphic design – and the American Public University (an online college) has a B.S. in Esports. This is just naming a few.]

But these degrees have often been met with resistance for not actually providing young people with career plans, and rather almost predatorily pouncing on a newly coined phrase to attract gamers into spending £30k in the hope that the course can find them an area to advance into. 

Ninjas in Pyjamas COO and advisor for the UK Esports Team Committee, Grand Rousseau, previously claimed that the educational route is a financial and timely “waste,” and that students should rather earn degrees in business, production, and media without being pigeon-holed into one industry like esports. In other words, it’s more beneficial to be broader with your degree to cover all basis, rather than specialize in esports and then struggle to escape the industry in the future.

“Want to get into esports? Either specialize early through uni, or just grind your way up,” he said to Esports Insider. “There’s no secret to it, it’s hard work and nothing else. Don’t waste your money.

“To UK A-level students currently applying to universities and wanting to get into esports, don’t do an esports degree. You’ll be receiving your offers currently and deciding which one to accept. If you’re looking to get into esports, make sure your degree is in a strong field that can bring value to the esports industry, a highly in-demand area of work.”

“You’ll be able to do esports by joining your uni society, taking part in competition,s and volunteering work with amateur orgs. Don’t spend 30 grand on a degree to do that.”

The sentiment among students is split.

On one hand, University Campus of Esports graduate Louis Skilton (Ski1ton), somewhat agreed with Rousseau’s hypothesis. He told me that his Esports Coaching and Management BA degree has resulted in a role within the industry that wouldn’t have been possible without the connections made. But only after realizing that he wanted to pivot away from the coaching, management, and business side of the degree towards a new tangent.

“When I first joined, I wanted to be an esports coach for League of Legends,” he said. 

“The modules that did focus on esports coaching were brilliant. However, the course had the overarching structure of a business degree. Which resulted in us spending a lot of our time doing general unspecialized research. We spent a whole graded module on not-for-profit organizations.

“The majority of my learning and experiences came from the extra-curricular activities and exposure from connections, networking, and opportunities outside of lectures.

“It also helped me realize that I wanted to explore more doing broadcasts and event work. I am no longer looking to do esports coaching going forward. But the general university experience I had gave me some great opportunities.”

Skilton now works in the industry, first serving as a freelancer for ESL,and then becoming Media Operations Executive at British Esports after some time as an intern. Yet, he claimed that the degree came at a higher cost than was warranted. 

“I think it comes at too much of a cost. I really benefited from the experiences that were offered during my time at the university as a whole. The course itself was more supplemental in comparison. My university experience came at a cost of being hyper-specialized. There were no clubs, societies, no extracurricular activities outside of esports.”

On the other hand, Salford University alumni Lewis Brumby told me that he enrolled because he wanted to further a professional career in the industry, but didn’t know exactly what career to pursue.

“When I started the degree, I honestly had no clue. I was still chasing the dream of wanting to compete, like a lot of people hold onto for a while,” he told Esports Insider.

“For the career, I ended up chasing [esports manager]. My lectures and university were so supportive. Although modules might not have aligned with this specifically, there were elements of everything that have added to my skillset to be able to overachieve in my job role.”

This aligns with the idea that esports degrees are advertised to entice hungry gamers who want to continue trying to go professional. But, that’s no different from mainstream sports degrees that birth physios, managers, and marketing directors. Despite it being a costly gamble, education can box people into a hole that the esports industry needs plugging, and that’s invaluable for a scene to continue growing. 

Brumby also believes that the degree sets him apart from candidates going for the same roles. “When employers see the degree, I believe that I’m automatically moved forward in stages of progression towards getting the job, as it’s still so scarce to have,” he added.

“I think as time progresses, younger people in esports will struggle to get the role they desire within esports due to older citizens gaining experience while others are in education. An esports-specific degree enables you to move forward, and prove you have something others don’t.”

Currently, graduate-level education comes with a mixed bag of opportunities. For those searching for a place within the industry, these esports degrees can unlock new passions and open your eyes to roles that you may never have considered before.

But for people with a preconceived idea of what they want to achieve, the end-product can be drastically different. 

There’s still an argument to be made that specialist subjects like media, marketing, and business management students would get much more expertise by leaving the idea of an esports-related degree behind, and focusing on a wider degree that allows you to explore jobs in gaming and other niches.

That doesn’t mean esports degrees are redundant, however. There is space for them, and while they will arguably never be able to escape pigeon-holing students into gaming, they can be refined to continue guiding passionate students in the right direction.

An Associate Lecturer, formerly of Northampton University, who wished to remain anonymous, agreed with that suggestion. He told Esports Insider that “they have their place in the world of higher education” and that the engagement levels are far beyond what they have experienced before.

He continued: “I think the narrative around them is too harsh and not representative of the real world. Science careers are likely just as low. The esports industry has comparable open jobs in the UK to physics open jobs. Yet we don’t have this discussion about physics degrees.

“I think there are some skills you learn that are very specific to esports that can be unintuitive. But it can also get you connections in the industry you can’t otherwise get from the ‘mainstream’ equivalents. I would always recommend aspiring students to do the degrees they believe they have true passion for. University is a place for learning, not just in your course, but of yourself.”

The BBC’s sign-off extraction quote of “education courses can provide a strong foundation for those careers, but practical experience is equally important,” isn’t a true reflection of the esports degrees. Neither is Grant Rousseau’s verdict.

But there are truths hidden in these arguments that ring true, and any aspiring student should be informed about what they can actually expect from their higher education learning: Wider esports degrees are great for finding a place, but Esports Marketing courses leave students worse off than a wider Marketing degree, complemented by some extra-curricular clubs.