The Esports Management Specialization prepares students to turn a passion for gaming into a viable career. According to a market report by Newzoo, global esports revenues have reached $906 million in 2018, a year-on-year growth of +38%. Speak knowledgeably about the history, community, and business of esports with future employers and other stakeholders in the industry. Individuals aspiring to launch or already beginning their career in the business of esports. This program suits game developers, finance professionals, community managers, marketers, and project managers. Overview of esports will introduce learners to the roles and influences that game developers have in the industry. Learners get a glimpse into the structures of an organization and how it builds a brand. Learners will also be informed of the jobs available in esports and where to get started in order to be involved.
Esports Specialization
Launch your career in Esports. Explore esports from behind the scenes and learn what it means to be involved in esports.
Offered By
What you will learn
Examine relationships in the esports communities and understand how their different roles affect each other.
Explore esports from behind the scenes and learn what it means to be involved in esports.
Learn the structures of what an esports organizations might look like and build the groundwork for an understanding of the esports industry.
Understand the roles and influences that game developers have in the industry.
Skills you will gain
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.
There are 4 Courses in this Specialization
Game Developers and Esports Organizations
Before you can have an Esport, you must have a video game to play and a game developer to design it. This course is dedicated to discussing game developers and their relationship with their respective Esport. The content will help you recognize the qualities a video game must have to become a successful Esport. We will examine the diagram demonstrating the various competitive structures commonly found in Esports. Esports, just like traditional sports, have their own professional organizations. These organizations strive to become successful businesses that win, make a profit, take care of their professional players, and attract a large audience. We will explore the factors that contribute to an Esports organization’s success, including branding, positioning, structuring the organization and funding sources.
Esports Teams and Professional Players
This course will be focusing on the competitive Esport team and individual professional players. Whether you are playing on a team or competing as an individual, you will find that being a professional Esports player is more complex and nuanced than most people realize. We will be talking a lot about the support staff surrounding players, the intricacy of navigating contracts, and the hardships of committing yourself to professional play. We will also be talking about the Esports media. Similar to sports, Esports has developed its own unique ecosystem of articles, videos, streaming, social media, and overall content creation. We will examine the specifics of different types of media and explain how each has its uses in making Esports more popular as a whole.
Collegiate Esports and Career Planning
This course will be covering hot topics in the Esports industry. With Esports exploding in popularity over the last ten years, there are a lot of issues to discuss. We will also be talking about collegiate Esports and career planning in order to understand all the different avenues and to examine the choices available for you as you pave your way through the Esports world. We will examine collegiate Esports, as that is generally the first step, but we will be covering general career planning too.
Esports Management Capstone Project
We will analyze the pros and cons of creating a single or multiple Esport organization and recommend an effective branding strategy for a hypothetical Esport organization based on current Esport branding considerations. You will develop a plan for recruiting funding resources for a hypothetical Esports organization and choose an Esport organization role of interest, other than Owner, and describe your reasoning.
About University of California, Irvine
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the refund policy?
Can I just enroll in a single course?
Yes! To get started, click the course card that interests you and enroll. You can enroll and complete the course to earn a shareable certificate, or you can audit it to view the course materials for free. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. Visit your learner dashboard to track your progress.
Is financial aid available?
Can I take the course for free?
Is this course really 100% online? Do I need to attend any classes in person?
This course is completely online, so there’s no need to show up to a classroom in person. You can access your lectures, readings and assignments anytime and anywhere via the web or your mobile device.
How long does it take to complete the Specialization?
30 hours.
What background knowledge is necessary?
This specialization is designed for beginners with no background knowledge.
Do I need to take the courses in a specific order?
It is recommended to take the courses in order.
Will I earn university credit for completing the Specialization?
You will be able to transfer into the UCI DCE program with the completion of the specialization.
What will I be able to do upon completing the Specialization?
Determine the different ways game developers affect Esports and suggest opportunities they could take to better support their Esport.Describe common Esport organizational structures and suggest additional employee roles that could support the organization further.Explain the nuances of the Esports player profession and the implications of being a full-time player.Identify various forms of Esports journalism and communicate a favored type to consume.Debate divisive Esports topics respectfully in and outside of the classroom.Develop specific action items to advance future Esports participation goals.
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
