In May 2009 the How They Got Game Project at Stanford University ran a one day workshop on e-sports and cyberathleticism. The purpose of that event was to bring together researchers and people actually working – and playing – in the competitive computer gaming scene (aka e-sports) and to document via oral histories, artifacts, and discussions this emerging area. The Stanford event focused primarily on North American players, team managers, commentators, etc. As we wrote in the info for that event:
>> We are organizing this workshop to bring together members of the community – players, coaches, team managers, broadcasters, website and community organizers – to present their histories within the scene, ideas about where things are headed and current challenges, and generate discussion on the subject of e-sports and pro-gaming. We will be approaching cyberathletics from the general aspects of players, teams & coaching, and communities & spectatorship (one panel each). We will collaboratively investigate these related topics by looking at digital game technologies, communities, and cultures. Topics will include team selection, game playing strategies, game hacking & cheating, open source ideas, technology studies, spectatorship and broadcasting, fan culture, and notions of competitive coaching and management. In short, we will look critically and historically at the notions of professional competitive play in digital games in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. <<
The “E-Sports and Cyberathleticism: European Edition” event will be the second in the series. This one-day workshop will bring together members of the community – players, coaches, team managers, broadcasters, website and community organizers – to present their histories within the scene, ideas about where things are headed and current challenges, and generate discussion on the subject of e-sports and pro-gaming. Topics will include players and performance, team selection, game playing strategies, spectatorship and broadcasting, fan culture, and notions of competitive coaching and management. In short, we will look critically and historically at the notions of professional competitive play in digital games in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
