Let's Play

Ever since he was a kid, Andrew Jespersen has played video games — a lot of video games.

It started with the Game Boy Advance his parents bought him when he was 6 years old and the hours he spent thumbing through "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist," "Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup" and various Pokémon titles. By fourth grade, Jespersen had discovered "World of Warcraft," the popular online fantasy role-playing game, where he linked up with gamers all over the globe.

Eighth grade brought "League of Legends," a multiplayer online battle arena game that tapped into Jespersen's hyper-competitive nature. Just like basketball and soccer, sports he played since early childhood, "League of Legends" required certain skills and specializations and let players start over every game with a clean slate. Those parallels with more respected and accepted sports, coupled with Jespersen's burgeoning control-pad prowess, led the Marietta, Ga., teen to a natural conclusion.

"That's when I realized I could and wanted to do something with video games," he says.

Of course, Jespersen's parents had their concerns. They didn't think all video games were bad, but they understood the potential time drain that could swallow a child through the screen, so they sought moderation. They instituted a one-for-one rule: one hour reading or playing basketball outside for every hour spent battling online. Jespersen's dad would repeat his mantra: "After all, you're not going to college for Xbox."

Imagine Mr. Jespersen's astonishment if he could have looked just a few years into the future and seen his son as a junior at Georgia State and the head coach of the "League of Legends" team under the university's brand new esports program.

Late last summer, Georgia State announced it would become the 34th member of the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), joining schools such as the University of California, Irvine and the University of Utah.

In September 2017, students were invited to try out for a roster spot on varsity teams competing in three games — "Brawlhalla," "Smite" and "League of Legends" — and one of 10 $1,000 scholarships. Those teams would compete in tournaments, online and in person, representing the Panthers against NACE schools from across the country — like any other collegiate sport, except on a computer.

"I don't doubt that there are people who are silently wondering what we're doing," says David Cheshier, director of the Georgia State Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII), which administers the esports program. "We anticipated concern when we built the program so it'd be easy to defend if anyone asked. But no one's asked."

PARADIGM TWITCH
If someone were to ask — say, a fretful parent, perplexed professor or anxious administrator — the question might sound like Jespersen's dad's concern: "Why are we sending our kids to college to play Xbox?"

"I will admit," says Cheshier. "I've had maybe 10 conversations with parents where they're saying, 'I love the fact my child is interested in animation and plays video games, but I'm terrified of what that might mean.'"

According to Lucas Bailey, assistant director of Georgia State esports, competitive video games aren't all that different from softball, soccer or football.

"I honestly think esports have the same benefits as any other sport," he says. "Personal development, communication and cohesion — what you learn from being part of a team. You have to work with your team to achieve objectives, take criticism and reflect to improve yourself. No matter what you're doing, knowing how to communicate and work with people is essential."

Unlike other sports, gaming carries no physical restrictions such as size, strength or speed, save for the hand-eye coordination, endurance and reaction time that can be so essential in many of these games. That quick-on-the-trigger dexterity is called "twitch," a skill so vital to competitive gameplay that the industry's leading live video streaming network is named after it. (Online at twitch.tv, Twitch hosts more than two million broadcasters every month and streams to more than 15 million users every day.)

Today's professional gamers compete for millions of dollars in prizes in worldwide tournaments and leagues that are followed by tens of millions of people. E-athletes also draw sponsorships from playing before millions of viewers who stream games live on Twitch. The upper echelon of gamers can reach a tax bracket shared by some of the more famous traditional athletes.

But while e-athletes might dream of making the big time one day, the university and most students see a much more practical application for gaming. For Cheshier, esports fit nicely under the mission of the CMII, which sprung up in 2014 to connect students with the most advanced technology and create a model for media entrepreneurship — a one-stop shop for media companies who want to partner with students versed in film, music and entertainment. E-athletes aren't just playing the games. Some are coming to CMII to learn how to conceive, create and market them.

"They're learning the industry's essential job skills," says Cheshier. "Coding, programming, immersive world creation, animation and entrepreneurship."

And that industry, along with film and music, is a growth market in Atlanta. Major game producers such as Hi-Rez Studios and Blue Mammoth Games are based here and part of an electronic gaming business that pumps anywhere from $500 million to $3 billion into the local economy.

"Twenty years ago, all games were made by two or three big studios," Cheshier says. "Now it's all small startups. Those places want an educated workforce and an ecosystem that encourages investment. We want to help build that sector here."

Even for those students who aren't interested in the technical or artistic aspects of gaming, there is growth potential in marketing esports, organizing leagues and tournaments, producing Twitch streams and television broadcasts, and even becoming commentators.

After the university initially announced the program in August, Cheshier says some 340 students showed up for the general information sessions downtown. He estimates that only 20 percent of those young men and women came because they were interested in tournament competition.

"Most wanted to connect in other ways," he says.

With only 33 other schools in the NACE, Georgia State is among the pioneers in this emerging field and the first in Georgia. And while Georgia Tech and the Savannah College of Art & Design might be more traditionally obvious pipelines for local talent in information technology or electronic design, the Panthers have something unique to offer.

"The video game industry faces a diversity crisis," says Cheshier. "It's overwhelmingly male and white. The genuine diversity of our student body gives us a unique advantage in solving that."

Offering one of the only esports programs in the land also gives Georgia State a recruiting boost. The university can attract students who want to pursue a career in video games as well as other youths who grew up with competitive gaming and just want to keep playing (and reap a little scholarship money) while working toward degrees in something completely different.

"We've found staggering levels of interest in bright high school students who want to connect their love of video games with their college careers," says Cheshier. "My guess is that there are plenty more students who are interested in many creative aspects of the video game industry who just haven't seen a way to tie it all together into a cohesive educational experience."

Ever since he was a kid, Andrew Jespersen has played video games — a lot of video games.

It started with the Game Boy Advance his parents bought him when he was 6 years old and the hours he spent thumbing through "Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist," "Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup" and various Pokémon titles. By fourth grade, Jespersen had discovered "World of Warcraft," the popular online fantasy role-playing game, where he linked up with gamers all over the globe.

Eighth grade brought "League of Legends," a multiplayer online battle arena game that tapped into Jespersen's hyper-competitive nature. Just like basketball and soccer, sports he played since early childhood, "League of Legends" required certain skills and specializations and let players start over every game with a clean slate. Those parallels with more respected and accepted sports, coupled with Jespersen's burgeoning control-pad prowess, led the Marietta, Ga., teen to a natural conclusion.

"That's when I realized I could and wanted to do something with video games," he says.

Of course, Jespersen's parents had their concerns. They didn't think all video games were bad, but they understood the potential time drain that could swallow a child through the screen, so they sought moderation. They instituted a one-for-one rule: one hour reading or playing basketball outside for every hour spent battling online. Jespersen's dad would repeat his mantra: "After all, you're not going to college for Xbox."

Imagine Mr. Jespersen's astonishment if he could have looked just a few years into the future and seen his son as a junior at Georgia State and the head coach of the "League of Legends" team under the university's brand new esports program.

Late last summer, Georgia State announced it would become the 34th member of the National Association of Collegiate eSports (NACE), joining schools such as the University of California, Irvine and the University of Utah.

In September 2017, students were invited to try out for a roster spot on varsity teams competing in three games — "Brawlhalla," "Smite" and "League of Legends" — and one of 10 $1,000 scholarships. Those teams would compete in tournaments, online and in person, representing the Panthers against NACE schools from across the country — like any other collegiate sport, except on a computer.

"I don't doubt that there are people who are silently wondering what we're doing," says David Cheshier, director of the Georgia State Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII), which administers the esports program. "We anticipated concern when we built the program so it'd be easy to defend if anyone asked. But no one's asked."

PARADIGM TWITCH
If someone were to ask — say, a fretful parent, perplexed professor or anxious administrator — the question might sound like Jespersen's dad's concern: "Why are we sending our kids to college to play Xbox?"

"I will admit," says Cheshier. "I've had maybe 10 conversations with parents where they're saying, 'I love the fact my child is interested in animation and plays video games, but I'm terrified of what that might mean.'"

According to Lucas Bailey, assistant director of Georgia State esports, competitive video games aren't all that different from softball, soccer or football.

"I honestly think esports have the same benefits as any other sport," he says. "Personal development, communication and cohesion — what you learn from being part of a team. You have to work with your team to achieve objectives, take criticism and reflect to improve yourself. No matter what you're doing, knowing how to communicate and work with people is essential."

Unlike other sports, gaming carries no physical restrictions such as size, strength or speed, save for the hand-eye coordination, endurance and reaction time that can be so essential in many of these games. That quick-on-the-trigger dexterity is called "twitch," a skill so vital to competitive gameplay that the industry's leading live video streaming network is named after it. (Online at twitch.tv, Twitch hosts more than two million broadcasters every month and streams to more than 15 million users every day.)

Today's professional gamers compete for millions of dollars in prizes in worldwide tournaments and leagues that are followed by tens of millions of people. E-athletes also draw sponsorships from playing before millions of viewers who stream games live on Twitch. The upper echelon of gamers can reach a tax bracket shared by some of the more famous traditional athletes.

But while e-athletes might dream of making the big time one day, the university and most students see a much more practical application for gaming. For Cheshier, esports fit nicely under the mission of the CMII, which sprung up in 2014 to connect students with the most advanced technology and create a model for media entrepreneurship — a one-stop shop for media companies who want to partner with students versed in film, music and entertainment. E-athletes aren't just playing the games. Some are coming to CMII to learn how to conceive, create and market them.

"They're learning the industry's essential job skills," says Cheshier. "Coding, programming, immersive world creation, animation and entrepreneurship."

And that industry, along with film and music, is a growth market in Atlanta. Major game producers such as Hi-Rez Studios and Blue Mammoth Games are based here and part of an electronic gaming business that pumps anywhere from $500 million to $3 billion into the local economy.

"Twenty years ago, all games were made by two or three big studios," Cheshier says. "Now it's all small startups. Those places want an educated workforce and an ecosystem that encourages investment. We want to help build that sector here."

Even for those students who aren't interested in the technical or artistic aspects of gaming, there is growth potential in marketing esports, organizing leagues and tournaments, producing Twitch streams and television broadcasts, and even becoming commentators.

After the university initially announced the program in August, Cheshier says some 340 students showed up for the general information sessions downtown. He estimates that only 20 percent of those young men and women came because they were interested in tournament competition.

"Most wanted to connect in other ways," he says.

With only 33 other schools in the NACE, Georgia State is among the pioneers in this emerging field and the first in Georgia. And while Georgia Tech and the Savannah College of Art & Design might be more traditionally obvious pipelines for local talent in information technology or electronic design, the Panthers have something unique to offer.

"The video game industry faces a diversity crisis," says Cheshier. "It's overwhelmingly male and white. The genuine diversity of our student body gives us a unique advantage in solving that."

Offering one of the only esports programs in the land also gives Georgia State a recruiting boost. The university can attract students who want to pursue a career in video games as well as other youths who grew up with competitive gaming and just want to keep playing (and reap a little scholarship money) while working toward degrees in something completely different.

"We've found staggering levels of interest in bright high school students who want to connect their love of video games with their college careers," says Cheshier. "My guess is that there are plenty more students who are interested in many creative aspects of the video game industry who just haven't seen a way to tie it all together into a cohesive educational experience."