Adelaide summit helping turn gamers into esports professionals
Experts will discuss all aspects of the esports and streaming industry at the second annual conference exploring creative revolutionaries.
The Legacy Esports team have won a spot at the 2020 League of Legends World Championship in Shanghai, China. Photo supplied
The free event is being hosted by the University of Adelaide’s Sia Furler Institute with an aim to teach keen gamers how to turn a passion for video games into a professional career.
Held at the Bragg lecture theatre in Adelaide on Thursday at 5.30 pm, the summit is part of the Creative Revolutionaries series produced by the institute to encourage growth in the creative industries.
Institute Director Thomas Hajdu said that last year the panellists laid out the pathway to turn a passion for video games into a professional career and that this year’s meeting would be a good opportunity to see how their careers have evolved.
“We want to teach people how to turn a passion for video games into a professional career,” Hajdu said.
“We want to keep the narrative consistent, continuing the conversation from last year and introducing new topics.”
Panellists include Misha Sukhinin, an organiser of AVCon, the annual Anime and Video game conference in Adelaide, as well as esports identities such as Catroulette and Alisheria.
Nigel Smart, COO of the Adelaide Crows Football Club, will discuss how the club has developed its esports division into a winning team.
“Since acquiring Legacy Esports in 2017 we have built capability across a range of factors including the people we have on board, our teams and the games we invest into,” Smart said.
“We have also run the biggest high school esports tournament across Australia and New Zealand for the last two years.”
The Legacy Esports team is currently undergoing quarantine in Shanghai, China as they prepare for the 2020 League of Legends World Championship.
The five-person League of Legends team won its place at the championship after being crowned the Oceanic Pro League Champions earlier this year.
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship will begin on the 25 September, with finals at Shanghai’s new Pudong soccer stadium on 31 October.
“There are many people talking the talk on esports, but very few actually putting actions into place and driving positive economic, commercial and community returns,” Smart said.
“Gaming and esports globally, even through COVID, continues to grow and South Australia has an opportunity to engage deeply with gaming publishers, leagues, technology companies and a wide range of gaming stakeholders to drive a range of employment, education and community outcomes.”
