Turning "playing games" into a profession, and how to "play" has become the thinking of students of this major——

  [“Breaking the circle” password for niche majors in vocational schools ③] When more than 100 vocational schools have applied for e-sports majors

  Our reporter Chen Huatangshu

  "Worker's Daily" (July 06, 2022 Edition 06)

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  From games to e-sports that everyone loves, to sports events with cultural and creative connotations, e-sports is entering the public eye with a new look.

The growing scale of the e-sports market also brings demand for professionals. A total of more than 100 higher vocational colleges and more than 10 undergraduate colleges across the country have applied for related majors.

The great prosperity of the e-sports industry has also brought a thought to the students of e-sports majors: when "playing games" has become a profession, how should "playing continue"?

Besides being a professional player, are there any good career options in the esports industry?

  On November 7 last year, the Chinese team EDG won the championship of the "Global League of Legends" finals.

At that moment, Peng Wang Anning, a sophomore majoring in e-sports and sports management at Anhui Sports Vocational and Technical College, and his roommates were all boiling.

After EDG won the championship, the "name rectification" of e-sports on the Internet has released Peng Wang Anning's long-suppressed emotions, "There is a feeling of being finally recognized, e-sports players can also serve the country like traditional sports athletes. Glory".

  The domestic e-sports industry has developed rapidly in recent years, and the great prosperity of the e-sports industry has also brought a thought to e-sports students including Peng Wang Anning: When "playing games" has become a profession, how should we continue to "play games"? down"?

  "Games are only part of eSports"

  "I have liked to play games since I was a child." For Peng Wang Anning, he never denied that his application for the major of e-sports and sports management stemmed from his love for e-sports competitions.

"WCG (World E-Sports Competition), CFPL (Cross Fire Professional League TV League)..." When he mentioned these events, he was familiar with them.

At first, my parents strongly opposed it. In their eyes, this is a career of playing games, which is a bit unprofessional.

  After entering Anhui Sports Vocational and Technical College, Peng Wang Anning found that this major is not only as simple as playing games, in addition to the core courses of e-sports training courses, introduction to e-sports, e-sports project technical (tactical) foundation, event operation Management and sports psychology are also compulsory courses.

  Among all the classes, the practical training class is undoubtedly the most popular among the students, because they can play games in a fair and open manner.

In fact, the so-called game is not easy.

To understand the development history of each game; to memorize each character and its corresponding skills; to conduct a tactical review after a game; even to retell the strategy adopted in the real game scene in words during the final exam... …

  "E-sports is a competitive sport, and sometimes an event lasts for several hours, which is also a great drain on physical strength." Kang Yuanxiang, a teacher majoring in e-sports and management of the school, introduced that the school has established physical training and sports injury rehabilitation. and other traditional sports courses to enhance students' physical fitness and protect their physical and mental health.

  In the view of Sun Haowei, a student, using games as a medium to gain more in school is to exercise personal ability and improve comprehensive quality, including team awareness, communication ability, and ability to resist pressure.

  Kang Yuanxiang also clearly felt that some students were more introverted and taciturn when they entered the school, while e-sports is a team project that requires cooperation and communication. With a period of study, students' personalities will also change.

  "Games are only a part of e-sports. If you study with the mentality of just wanting to play games, it will definitely not work." Peng Wang Anning suggested that you should not blindly follow the trend and apply for the exam, but you should really like and love the e-sports industry. and have a correct understanding of it.

  Broad development space

  Becoming a professional player, putting on the national flag and standing on the podium, this is the initial dream of almost every e-sports student.

However, the competition of professional players is fierce and cruel. Not only is the training hard, but also the requirements for age and talent are relatively high. It can be said that the one who can eventually become a professional player is one in a thousand.

  Peng Wang Anning chose to apply for the e-sports major, initially with the goal of being a professional player.

Although the game level is much higher than that of ordinary players, Peng Wang Anning soon found that he was still a long way from top players.

  "The dream of becoming a professional e-sports athlete is shattered." Peng Wang Anning was a little disappointed at first, but with more in-depth and systematic study, he realized that professional players are only a part of the e-sports industry, and the entire industry is still There are other broader development space.

  With the continuous expansion of the e-sports industry and the improvement of the e-sports ecological chain, its positions are also more subdivided, with as many as 36 types. , tactical designer and other positions also enrich the career choices of the e-sports industry.

  "We want to cultivate professional talents such as operation and management required by the entire industry chain of e-sports." Kang Yuanxiang said that in order to meet the market demand, the school is also constantly updating and adjusting its curriculum, adding event planning, Data analysis, club operation, game commentary, live broadcast operation and other courses.

  Due to the gradual subdivision of e-sports majors, some students encountered confusion and confusion in the learning process, and did not know where to go in the future.

Kang Yuanxiang feels that it is particularly important to consciously guide and train students to develop their suitable direction.

  Zhongjing (Shanghai) Sports Culture Company is a school-enterprise cooperation unit of Anhui Sports Vocational and Technical College majoring in e-sports and sports management. The company has a training room in the school.

The training instructor Deng Zihan once discovered that a student is very talented in games, so he focused on increasing his competition training.

Now the student has been selected to an e-sports club in Hangzhou and has become a professional e-sports athlete.

  "There are still students who like 3D modeling, so I encourage them to learn more about game design and other related content, so that they can be engaged in the field of game development in the future." Deng Zihan said.

  Peng Wang Anning also found his own direction.

As the president of the school's e-sports club, he can now not only smoothly organize competitions inside and outside the school, but also independently write declarations and plans, and have a clearer understanding of the surrounding industries of e-sports.

After the summer vacation this year, he will go to Shenzhen to intern in a game company recommended by the school, such as game promotion and testing.

  It is urgent to formulate a complete talent training system

  "After EDG won the championship last year, more people followed e-sports and watched live broadcasts, and many parents asked me how to apply for the e-sports major."

The 2017 class of students Cao Tong Song is the first graduate of the school's e-sports and sports management major.

Currently engaged as an e-sports anchor, she intuitively feels the popularity of e-sports.

  According to the "2022 Global E-sports and Game Live Broadcasting Market Report", by the end of 2021, the total number of Chinese e-sports users will exceed 425 million, accounting for 91% of global e-sports users.

On the other hand, the support and promotion of relevant policies have also allowed e-sports to gradually gain recognition from the society and enter the hall of elegance.

In November last year, e-sports became a competition item in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, which undoubtedly added fire to the e-sports profession.

  The growing scale of the e-sports market also brings demand for professionals. A total of more than 100 higher vocational colleges and more than 10 undergraduate colleges across the country have applied for related majors.

As an emerging major, how to formulate a complete talent training system is also a practical problem in front of us.

  Kang Yuanxiang said frankly that the major is still in its infancy, and courses such as e-sports data analysis have no targeted teaching materials, and can only rely on other relevant teaching materials to compile school-based teaching materials.

At the same time, the shortage of teachers is also a problem. At present, the way of school-enterprise cooperation and joint training is the way for many colleges to solve the problem of teachers.

  In addition, academic qualifications have also become a threshold for students to enter the job market.

"The upstream resources of the e-sports industry are too concentrated, that is, game manufacturers and game companies. Many companies require a bachelor's degree. Although our students are excellent and professional, it is difficult to transfer professional talents to professional places." Kang Yuanxiang said.

  Although the e-sports market is still chaotic at this stage, the vigorous growth of e-sports events has brought a blue ocean, and the employment prospects are also very broad.

"The holding of an event involves many links, including event planning, club operations, and event commentary, which all require a large number of professional talents. The key is to continuously improve one's ability." For the future, Caotongge is very optimistic.