Staffordshire University has revealed plans to expand its Esports provision with a £2.9 million investment in dedicated facilities.
The new industry-standard facilities, located at its Stoke-on-Trent campus, will feature a bespoke esports arena and a studio with dedicated broadcast galleries.
The expansion caters for the growing number of students studying on the University’s future facing Esports course which has been redeveloped with help from students and industry.
The facilities will use equipment manufactured by Panasonic and EVS and the project will be designed, built and installed by broadcast solutions specialist Digital Garage.
Staffordshire University, which is celebrating 20 years of Computer Games degrees, was the first University in the UK to launch a dedicated Esports degree five years ago.
Esports Course Director Dr Ying-Ying Law said: “The Esports industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace and it is important that we reflect this in our updated course curriculum and that our teaching covers the skills, knowledge and behaviours that will help sector progression.”
“We have carefully considered what our graduates need to succeed in the future and through our revised course curriculum, our students get to examine both the theoretical and practical approaches to production, media, events, communities and management.
“Consequently, they will gain in-depth subject knowledge and transferable skills that will benefit them in the modern, digital media landscape, and be given exciting opportunities to apply it to projects in their chosen specialism.”
As part of their final year project, students on the Esports course have also been working with respected industry partners including Alpine, a car manufacturer and team currently on the F1 grid, on the Alpine Community Cup Series.
The expansion of Esports in the University’s Beacon building will accommodate flexible teaching space and students will have access to over 80 devices including specialist Esports imaged workstations. Improved networking between rooms and Esports aesthetics and theming including lighting, furniture and artwork from student events will also feature.
