The Rise of esports TUT Partners With Mind Sports SA on Research Collaboration

The lecturer at Tshwane University of Technology’s Department of Tourism Management, Dr Rosa Naudé-Potgieter, has joined forces with Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) to embark on a journey that will enhance knowledge of eSports and opportunities for research that take advantage of the growing gaming industry in South Africa.

Video game competitions are called eSports, or electronic sports. Video game eSports typically take the form of organized, multiplayer competitions between professional players, either individually or as teams. Despite the very long history of organized video game competitions, these were mainly between amateurs until the late 2000s.

The Rise of esports TUT Partners With Mind Sports SA on Research Collaboration

Professional gamers’ participation and live streaming of these events saw a huge surge after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Naudé-Potgieter said the envisaged research and collaboration will capitalize on the potential of eSports to make a significant contribution to the South African tourism industry.

Additionally, she mentioned that in tourism, many destinations are familiar with receiving tourists interested in participating in traditional sporting events. However, working in eSports is a completely different experience due to its blend of competitiveness and entertainment.

Tourism destinations that want to host these types of events must learn from these particularities how to navigate the esports ecosystem and where to begin when looking to organize eSports events.

In spite of the fact that eSports have roots in digital consumption, their transfer to physical space is happening more frequently as a result of increasingly crowded competitive events with greater international repercussions. Dr Naudé-Potgieter explained that as an industry, it is paramount that we better understand eSports, its participants, motivations, and travel behavior through research.

There will also be a focus on eSports players’ motivations and needs, eSports spectators’ motivations and needs, and eSports participants’ travel behavior and economic expenditures.

Dr Naudé-Potgieter said, “We are eagerly awaiting the results of these unique studies so that they can guide the tourism industry on what improvements can be made in order to capture the market and reap its economic benefits.”

Researchers at the faculty of Management Sciences registered the project as a non-degree purpose study, and were granted ethical clearance by the university after going through a rigorous process.

dditionally, the initiative is part of the Department of Tourism Management’s drive to become a significant player in South African gaming research, in preparation for the introduction of the Diploma Casino Resort Management qualification.