The number of employees is only 50,000, and the talent gap is as high as 500,000
Where did the first batch of e-sports undergraduates go after graduation
Reporter Wang Mengran
"Going to school is just playing?" "Is this major taking classes in Internet cafes?"... 4 years ago, Nanguang College of Communication University of China (now Nanjing College of Communication) opened the major of Art and Technology (e-sports analysis), which attracted many people. Fang is concerned, some people have been curious and ridiculed.
Today, more than 20 young people are about to become the first batch of "e-sports" undergraduate graduates from the school.
Do they choose to "further study" or enter the tide of e-sports?
In the past 4 years, what "new forces" have been surging in the e-sports industry?
The reporter interviewed in many ways, approached this "regular game army", focused on the current "e-sports education", and explored the motivations for the active "bigger and stronger" e-sports industry in various regions.
Professional e-sports and "playing games" are two different things
He Yuheng, a 17-level "e-sports major" student at Nanjing Institute of Media and Communication, is a "game fan" and has liked League of Legends since his freshman year.
In the past 4 years, he has deeply realized: "E-sports professional learning and playing games are basically two different things."
Looking at the courses-computer programming, statistical software, art foundation, overall planning, etc., there is no "entertainment" at all, and the professional level is high, and the comprehensiveness is strong. It is a test of the students' basic skills and accomplishments in science and engineering and even art.
Considering to dig deeper in a field, He Yuheng applied for a graduate student majoring in radio and television at Wuhan Textile University, hoping to improve his professionalism in broadcasting and other areas, and become an e-sports "media tester" after graduation.
In his view, e-sports is a highly intersecting subject. If you want to go further in your e-sports career, you must not only "full bloom" in basic disciplines, but also develop "unique skills."
"E-sports talents do not necessarily need to play well." Chen Huan, assistant to the dean of Nanjing Institute of Media and Communication, believes that people should change their stereotypes about "e-sports."
E-sports is a "new industry" that is becoming mature, with high professionalism and fierce competition. Practitioners rely on "hard skills" to speak.
For example, a game designer needs to have strong logical thinking and even data analysis capabilities in addition to "understanding games."
With the development of new technologies, players have higher requirements for "immersion", and game designers also need to have a solid art foundation and artistic perception.
Chen Huan introduced that as early as 2017, when the school enrolled students, related majors were set up according to the future career plan of e-sports-user experience analysis, e-sports analysis, and e-sports explanation.
Among the school’s first batch of “e-sports” undergraduate graduates, 10% chose to study for graduate school, and about half of them found counterpart occupations, including game design, game operation, and event venue operation; but there are indeed some students who failed to handle their hobbies and The professional relationship eventually gave up the professional "e-sports road" and chose other professions that were not closely related.
Organize e-sports events to "drain traffic" for the city
In recent years, the good development trend of the e-sports industry has also caused the public's attitude towards the e-sports profession to shift from questioning and curiosity to paying attention and exploring.
Last year, e-sports was included in the official sports event of the Asian Games, and the Olympic Games also began to host virtual experience events. "E-sports" ushered in a new round of development boom.
In Jiangsu, where the electronic information "family" is solid, not only has the first e-sports undergraduate major in colleges and universities emerged in recent years, e-sports companies and projects have also blossomed everywhere, and even e-sports towns have been created.
In the e-sports town of Tianjing Lake, Taicang, Suzhou, many young people wearing costumes with the words "e-sports" and "team" are walking on the streets.
The layout of the e-sports town is detailed on the crossing display board, and surrounding supporting industries such as e-sports colleges and theme hotels are readily available.
"We settled in the town in 2016. Since the initial small team of 10 people, there have been 150 people. Last year, the company's operating income reached 180 million yuan." Liu Zezhao, Executive Director of Suzhou Qingjiu Culture Media Co., Ltd. lamented the rapid development of the e-sports industry. Cultivate the top e-sports team with core competitiveness, undertake top-level e-sports events at home and abroad, so that enterprises can earn a lot of money.
In recent years, the e-sports industries in Nanjing, Yangzhou, Xuzhou and other places have also rapidly gathered and the development momentum has been strong.
"What local parks and investors value is the'draining' power of e-sports." Wang Xianbo, vice president of the Provincial E-sports Association, pointed out the key.
For example, he said that before and after the hosting of a large-scale e-sports event in Nanjing Jiangning Jingfeng Mall, nearly 10,000 young “fans” poured in, and everything from hotel rooms to dining and tourism was “full”.
Undoubtedly, large-scale e-sports events have brought about young consumption power, brightened the city's business card, and promoted economic development and increased tourism output.
During the epidemic, e-sports can be described as a sudden emergence.
Sun Zhiming, chairman of Huizhi Mutual Entertainment, an enterprise in Yuhuatai District, Nanjing, said that offline entertainment, concerts, sports meets, etc. were once quiet last year, and online e-sports competitions have become a "new choice" for many people and even units for team building.
"For the past year, the company has received 20-200 e-sports orders from all over the country every day, attracting a large number of traffic fans." Sun Zhiming told reporters that as the e-sports business grows, the company urgently needs to fill the talent gap. This year, about 5 e-sports undergraduate graduates have been provided with positions. It is expected that next year, it will attract about 300 full-time e-sports talents and at least 3,000 part-time employees.
The high-level talent gap needs to be filled urgently
"Content, technology, and talents will determine the competitiveness of the e-sports industry in the future." Wang Sixing, deputy dean of the e-sports college of Nanjing Institute of Media and Communication, said that the school's e-sports major will "expand" this year. Looking at the job market this year, game development , Commentary anchors and other aspects of the biggest gap.
Relevant data show that there are currently only 50,000 e-sports practitioners in my country, and the relevant talent gap is as high as 500,000.
As early as April 2019, among the 13 new professions released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and other departments, "e-sports players" were on the list.
As a standard "e-sports person", Fu Yiqiang has a dual professional status-a teacher of e-sports professional courses at Nanjing Institute of Media and Communication, and an e-sports game commentator.
"There are live work in the past 5 hours, and the mobile phone is not convenient for answering." During the winter and summer vacations, Fu Yiqiang explained that "work orders" came in abundance and posted such a "status" in the circle of friends.
He introduced to reporters that before 2018, the e-sports industry was still in the stage of "barbaric growth" and did not break through the niche "circle"; afterwards, with the development of 5G, artificial intelligence and other technologies, the e-sports industry ushered in a wave of development. , Gradually developed a complete ecological industry chain, and gave birth to e-sports athletes, coaches, referees, professional managers, as well as e-sports hosts, anchors, event planning and a series of "new professions".
Fu Yiqiang said that taking e-sports commentary as an example, in addition to mastering e-sports tactics, practitioners must also have strong language skills. Some international events even require "bilingual commentary."
In his view, the e-sports industry is moving towards scale and professional development, and high-quality e-sports talents should be involved in economics, management, media, and computers.
"At present, e-sports education has entered a more standardized and higher-quality development stage after a round of big waves." Wang Xianbo said that our province attaches great importance to the construction of e-sports education system and strives to eliminate people's misunderstandings about e-sports. The local government will cooperate with universities. , Industrial parks and enterprises, actively incubate and support high-quality creative teams, solve the problems of "small content production teams and insufficient high-quality content production capacity" that have plagued the e-sports industry for a long time, and further enhance the overall influence of Jiangsu e-sports.