ESGE's journey. Developing esports Kymenlaakso. Lessons learned and future ambitions
Editoija
Leppilampi, Antti
Jäntti, Atte
Kaakkois-Suomen ammattikorkeakoulu
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-344-445-4
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-344-445-4
Tiivistelmä
The ESGE project has come to an end. It’s been quite a ride! When we started in late 2019, we could only imagine small parts of what actually might happen. Now in 2022, we can be grateful about the many different projects, events, and workshops we have implemented, which have all helped to support and develop the esports ecosystem in the Kymenlaakso region.
In 2019, we got together with 30 esports professionals from Kymenlaakso and asked for their input to help us identify where ESGE could focus with this project. The esports professionals gave us concrete ideas and helped us to construct a roadmap for our project. In this publication, we will go through all the noteworthy events, and we will provide you with details on the current state of Kymenlaakso’s esports field in 2022. Our aim for this publication is to be open, so that you can learn from our work. We will describe the experiments that worked well, but also those that did not go as planned. Mistakes are how we learn after all! The reason behind being open with our reflection is that we believe that you, as a reader, will get more benefit from our results project processes and from reading this publication.
One of the biggest aims of ESGE was to study esports business and we have been fortunate to help two new companies to be born. Student-led Digital Barracks became the first company to focus on esports business in Kymenlaakso. They helped us with many different esports events during the project. Psychologist from Kotka, Simo Nuutinen started his work as an esports psychologist with help from ESGE. Simo was contacted by one of the most known PUBG teams in Finland, and he got the opportunity to work as an esports psychologists for a team that was competing for the world championship in 2021. The project also managed to help three esports coaches to find work in local sports academies. Its possible for any student from high school, vocational school or South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Science XAMK to apply for esports training in Kymenlaakso.
Together with the ESGE project team, we also managed to build a new esports event concept the “Kymenlaakso Cup”. The event has been now held twice, first in 2020, and then again in 2021. It brought together students from high schools, and vocational schools in Kymenlaakso region. Altogether, the 2021 event gathered 110 students from the local area to play against each other, the event had around 1,300 unique viewers for the online stream. Besides these experiences, we made several other experiments that we will share with you in this publication.
In 2019, we got together with 30 esports professionals from Kymenlaakso and asked for their input to help us identify where ESGE could focus with this project. The esports professionals gave us concrete ideas and helped us to construct a roadmap for our project. In this publication, we will go through all the noteworthy events, and we will provide you with details on the current state of Kymenlaakso’s esports field in 2022. Our aim for this publication is to be open, so that you can learn from our work. We will describe the experiments that worked well, but also those that did not go as planned. Mistakes are how we learn after all! The reason behind being open with our reflection is that we believe that you, as a reader, will get more benefit from our results project processes and from reading this publication.
One of the biggest aims of ESGE was to study esports business and we have been fortunate to help two new companies to be born. Student-led Digital Barracks became the first company to focus on esports business in Kymenlaakso. They helped us with many different esports events during the project. Psychologist from Kotka, Simo Nuutinen started his work as an esports psychologist with help from ESGE. Simo was contacted by one of the most known PUBG teams in Finland, and he got the opportunity to work as an esports psychologists for a team that was competing for the world championship in 2021. The project also managed to help three esports coaches to find work in local sports academies. Its possible for any student from high school, vocational school or South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Science XAMK to apply for esports training in Kymenlaakso.
Together with the ESGE project team, we also managed to build a new esports event concept the “Kymenlaakso Cup”. The event has been now held twice, first in 2020, and then again in 2021. It brought together students from high schools, and vocational schools in Kymenlaakso region. Altogether, the 2021 event gathered 110 students from the local area to play against each other, the event had around 1,300 unique viewers for the online stream. Besides these experiences, we made several other experiments that we will share with you in this publication.