Deadline: June 15, 2022

Esports research is a field with conflicting definitions and multiple perspectives. Despite the differences between approaches to esports, all emphasize its technological specificity and competitiveness. In the last decade, esports has ceased to be seen solely as entertainment for the youth and has become the fastest-growing area in sports. This view is supported by the increase in the number of events organized, their popularity among millions of viewers, and the growing number and professionalization of gamers. Traditional sports are still generally larger in size and reach than the biggest esports, with substantially more revenues and larger player salaries in traditional sports. However, esports is quickly catching up, given the growing number of broadcasted games and events, tournament prize pools, availability of media rights, and increasing advertising and sponsorship potential of esports games. Despite the increasing popularity of esports, the research is still in its nascency. After an initial descriptive stage, the focus shifts from explaining what esports is to a more nuanced understanding of multiple phenomenon present in the industry.

This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical development and practical understanding without excluding any methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding of esports are welcome.

Given the diverse goals of this minitrack, possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• Business, e.g. discovering esports consumers’ motivations; designing effective marketing tools; understanding players’/esports’ networks and organizations; gamers/fans as consumers; esports finances and revenues; esports management and governance
• Cognitive Science/Psychology, e.g. studying factors influencing athletes’ performance; their abilities and skills; cognitive and behavioral differences between athletes; team management.
• IT, e.g. using game telemetry, biometrics, user-generated data, or text mining to study esports; team dynamics; interactions of players; in-game performance.
• Sociology, e.g. gamers’ and athletes’ interactions and identities; live events and streaming dynamics; gender issues (gender gap).
• Media Studies and Communications, e.g. cultural examinations; relations between esports, traditional sports, and the media; offline spaces versus live-streaming, understanding esports in terms of virtual versus real; how technology mediates gaming and how esports’ communities fit here.
• Law, e.g. copyright issues, intellectual property.
• Health, Wellness and Medical Sciences, e.g., health and wellness of players; comparing esports and traditional sports; esports as ‘real’, ‘genuine’ sports or new quality.
• Technology, e.g. augmented, virtual, mixed and extended reality; haptic technology and gaming.

Authors of accepted papers have the option to fast-track extended versions of their papers to: Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports. Rejected manuscripts will be recommended to be submitted to JEGE for further review.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Author Instructions: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/

Esports minitrack website: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-55/internet-and-the-digital-economy/#esports-minitrack

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 15, 2022: Paper submission begins (through HICSS systems: https://hicss-submissions.org/)

June 15, 2022: Paper submission deadline (11:59 pm HST)

August 17,2022: Notification of acceptance/rejection

September 22, 2022: Deadline for authors to submit final manuscript for publication

October 1, 2022: Deadline for at least one author for each paper to register for the conference

MINITRACK CO-CHAIRS:

Piotr Siuda (Primary Contact)

Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl

Maciej Behnke

Adam Mickiewicz University

macbeh@amu.edu.pl

David P. Hedlund

St. John’s University

hedlundd@stjohns.edu