Esports & Livestreaming BA(Hons)

In year one, you'll gain a solid practical and theoretical foundation in the field of esports. You'll learn about the basic context in which esports are streamed, gain an understanding of the whole delivery process from start to finish, discover the roles that work together to make a project happen and explore team-working methodologies. You'll also get an introduction to digital media and creative marketing processes.

Modules

Development Foundations

You'll engage with the foundational collaborative steps involved in the development and delivery of digital products and services. 

Livestreaming Tools

In this module, you'll develop an understanding of the components and tools that make up a live networked streaming setup designed for online spectatorship. 

Digital Creativity

On this module, you will explore digital media formats including text, image and sound. You’ll play, tinker, experiment with and extend digital artefacts, transforming what already exists in one form into another form as a means of appropriation.

You’ll also consider moral and legal questions surrounding digital creativity, such as plagiarism, intellectual property law, licensing rights, representation and media literacy.

Data Fundamentals 

You’ll learn to use computer systems to process and analyse data. 

Multidisciplinary Teamwork 

Collaborating in multi-skilled teams, you’ll deliver a proof-of-concept for a digital product or service. 

Esports Production 

In this module, you'll explore the components that make up streamed content designed for online spectatorship. 

In year two of this Esports degree, your growing knowledge and skills will be put to the test with practical projects. You'll define and execute a solo esports, livestreaming or content creation project and work in a team to respond to a project brief. You'll consider the game-specific factors that impact spectator experience, encounter the legal, regulatory, financial and ethical considerations for running an esports business and develop an understanding of branding and promotion.

Modules

Legal and Financial Management in the Experience Sector

Through this introduction to the legal and financial elements of the industry, you'll learn to accurately interpret and respond to financial data and legislative considerations.

Individual Esports Project

You'll strike out on your own to explore content creation and media production as part of a solo project. You can focus on esports or digital content creation more generally.

Media Lab

You'll explore the creative opportunities and ethical implications of media technologies and advertising platforms. 

Esports Event

Working in a team, you’ll plan and produce an esports event while considering wider questions surrounding audience engagement and effective working practice.  

Through this project, you’ll address the challenges of mediating a specific game to a defined audience and what makes for exciting highlights. You’ll also explore how different games naturally affect the form of the broadcast, as well as how the audience engages with both promotional and livestreamed content.

Esports Studies 

In this module, you'll explore the historical context, theories and concepts that surround esports and related disciplines, such as sports and visual media.  

You can choose to take an optional professional placement after your second year on a three-year programme, or after your third year if you’re studying for a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year. 

You’ll be responsible for finding your own placement, with support from the Employability team. 

Choosing this option will enhance your industry experience and skills while studying. 

How you’ll study during your professional placement

You’ll spend time working in a professional context, as part of a business or organisation. This can be in one role, or up to three, and must be for a minimum of 24 weeks. 

You’ll develop in-demand workplace skills, deepen your insight into industry and grow your network of contacts, all of which could help you get ahead in your career after graduation. 

Throughout this year, you’ll develop a portfolio of work that includes critical self-reflection on what has been learned from the experience. You’ll be required to evidence your experiences, the skills you’ve learned and your professional growth. 

The final year of your Esports & Livestreaming degree is all about preparing for industry. You'll gain vital entrepreneurial know-how and finesse your practical skills by doing it for real. Working in a team, you'll deliver a large-scale, long-term esports event management project, which you'll present at the end of year show. To support this practical project, you'll write an extended essay based on a specific game and/or esports research topic. 

Teaching is geared around developing your professional practice and portfolio, helping you to build contacts and support your transition to employment, potentially including the creation of your own company. 

Modules

Professional Portfolio 

With guidance and mentoring, you'll advance and consolidate your knowledge of the enterprise and employment context of your relevant industry through the completion of a professional portfolio.

Future Skills  

You'll cultivate your professional journey, developing an understanding of your skills in the context of industry and employment. You'll be equipped with the confidence to articulate your knowledge and abilities, and evidence how you can apply them to real world challenges. 

Working on a collaborative or solo project, you'll deliver real results, whether that's a profit on some seed funding, a professional portfolio of work, or a solution to a real-world challenge from industry. 

Esports Live Performance 

You’ll plan, rehearse and deliver the inaugural broadcast that will kickstart a series of esports broadcasts. 

Future of Games 

This theory-based module will help you build a greater awareness of the evolving nature of games and esports. You'll deepen your understanding of the cultural, social and political contexts within which games and esports are made, played and perceived. 

Major Collaboration 

In the final module, you'll develop professional autonomy as you collaborate in multi-skilled teams to produce a market-viable service or product based on your own intellectual property. 

Why study an Integrated Foundation Year route?

If you’re taking on a new subject that you haven’t studied in depth before, have been out of education for a while or have a non-standard educational background then an Integrated Foundation Year degree may be the right choice for you. It is a four-year degree with an Integrated Foundation Year to start, which allows you to explore the primary elements of your subject before progressing on to the remaining three years of the BA(Hons) degree.

What you'll learn

If you choose this pathway, you'll study five core modules in your Foundation year. These are all designed to help you explore the foundational elements of your subject. You'll gain relevant technical skills, learn to experiment and take risks, develop an understanding of professional practice, have opportunities to work across disciplines and collaborate with other students on live project briefs.

Modules

Explore

You'll begin your foundation year by working collaboratively with others to explore themes of the future. You'll take risks, experiment through play and be supported to break through barriers.

Technique

You'll take subject-specific workshops and develop essential technical and practical skills in your area of study. You'll also enhance your analytical and organisational abilities.

Apply

You'll work with your peer group to think beyond discipline by addressing a societal or global issue. You'll then showcase your work to your peers and deliver and accompanying evaluation of your process.

Industry

You'll enhance your creative and practical skills in your subject specialism by responding to typical industry briefs, underpinned by focused research and experiments. You'll also gain industry insights through guest lectures and workshops.

Launch

You'll develop your unique identity in your specialism through the production of a self-initiated body of work. Your final project will be the bridge to your next year, fully supported by evaluative reviews and critical analysis of the work you have created.

After the Foundation year, you progress into Year One of the full three-year degree, equipped with a deeper knowledge of your subject, a clear understanding of your strengths, and develop a practical and technical skillset and the confidence to excel in your chosen subject.

If you apply for and enrol onto a degree with an Integrated Foundation Year, you’ll have the option to switch onto a five-year version including a placement year. That means you’ll complete the first three years of your course before completing a placement in industry in your fourth year and returning to Falmouth for the fifth year of your programme. 

The Integrated Foundation Year pathway for this course is new for entry year 2023 and subject to validation.

The delivery of esports events requires a broad-ranging skillset. While you'll predominantly learn from staff within the Games Academy, you'll also tap into the expertise of lecturers from the wider University. You'll learn through lectures, seminars and practical workshops in an esports lab – getting hands-on experience with streaming live matches.

At Falmouth, we use a 'digitally enhanced learning & teaching' approach. Your experience will always be predominantly in-person, including seminars, tutorials and studio teaching, with some, more targeted elements, being online either live (synchronous) or pre-recorded (asynchronous). You can read more here.

100% of your assessment will be coursework. 

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a variety of methods, including: 

• Short-form theory essays 
• Business cases 
• Group and solo practical projects 

Foundation year assessments are 100% coursework based.