[Air-L] CfP HICSS Minitrack on "Esports"

[Piotr Siuda]

Dear Colleagues

We invite you to submit your work to the Esports minitrack (second edition)
at the 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2024 (
https://hicss.hawaii.edu) planned for January 2024.

The detail are given below, and you can also find the CfP under this link:
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-57/internet-and-the-digital-economy/?fbclid=IwAR1o6ML-v5_3p_KFzNSVzhJvkOFvLtyP4fQQH2E_GVl7QaK9t3ibM9XrDCI#esports-minitrack

Esports research is a field with conflicting definitions and multiple
perspectives. Despite the differences between approaches to esports, all
emphasize its technological specificity and competitiveness. In the last
decade, esports has ceased to be seen solely as entertainment for the youth
and have become the fastest-growing area in sports and a stand-alone
discipline in its own right. This view is supported by the increase in the
number of events organized, their popularity among millions of viewers, and
the growing number and professionalization of gamers. Traditional sports
are still bigger than the biggest esports, often generating more revenue.
However, esports is quickly catching up, given the growing number of
broadcasted games, tournament prize pools, and increasing advertising
potential of esports games. Despite the increasing popularity of esports,
the research is still in its nascency. After an initial descriptive stage
of research on esports, the focus is now shifting from explaining what
esports is to a more nuanced understanding of many different aspects of the
phenomenon.

This minitrack aims to provide insight into esports’ theoretical
development and practical understanding without excluding any
methodological approach or scientific disciplines. Conceptual, theoretical,
empirical, and methodological contributions that enrich our understanding
of esports are welcome.

Given the diverse goals of this minitrack, possible topics include, but are
not limited to:

Business, e.g., discovering esports consumers’ motivations; designing
effective marketing tools; understanding players’/esports’ networks and
organizations; gamers/fans as consumers.

Cognitive Science/Psychology, e.g., studying factors influencing athletes’
performance; their abilities and skills; cognitive and behavioral
differences between athletes.

IT and Computer Science, e.g., using game telemetry, biometrics,
user-generated data, or text mining to study esports, e.g., team dynamics,
interactions of players; in-game performance.

Law, e.g., copyright issues, gambling.

Sociology and Cultural Studies, e.g., gamers’ and athletes’ interactions
and identities; live events and streaming dynamics; gender issues (gender
gap).

Media Studies, e.g., relations between esports, traditional sports, and the
media; offline spaces versus live-streaming, understanding esports in terms
of virtual versus real; how technology mediates gaming, and how esports’
communities fit here.

Sports Science, e.g., comparing esports and ‘traditional’ sports; esports
as ‘real’, ‘genuine’ sports or new quality; athletes’ careers.

--
Authors of accepted papers have the option to fast-track extended versions
of their papers to: Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports
Rejected manuscripts will be recommended to be submitted to JEGE for
further review.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Author Instructions: https://hicss.hawaii.edu/authors/
Esports minitrack website:
https://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-55/internet-and-the-digital-economy/#esports-minitrack

IMPORTANT DATES:
April 15, 2023: Paper submission begins (through HICSS systems:
https://hicss-submissions.org/)
June 15, 2023: Paper submission deadline (11:59 pm HST)
August 17,2023: Notification of acceptance/rejection
September 22, 2023: Deadline for authors to submit final manuscript for
publication
October 1, 2023: Deadline for at least one author for each paper to
register for the conference

MINITRACK CO-CHAIRS:
Piotr Siuda (Primary Contact)
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland
piotr.siuda at ukw.edu.pl

Maciej Behnke
Adam Mickiewicz University
macbeh at amu.edu.pl

David P. Hedlund
St. John’s University
hedlundd at stjohns.edu

There are several mini-tracks related to gaming. They include Gamification
(in Decision Analytics and Service Science), Streaming Media in
Entertainment (in Digital and Social Media), Games & Gaming (in Digital and
Social Media), Digitalization of Work (in Knowledge Innovation and
Entrepreneurial Systems), Game-based Learning (in Knowledge Innovation and
Entrepreneurial Systems), and the Metaverse (in Organizational Systems and
Technology).

--

*Piotr Siuda* (PhD, Professor of Media Studies)

piotrsiuda.com

Institute of Social Communication and Media

Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland


*Recent papers:*

*--** Darknet imaginaries in Internet memes: the discursive malleability of
the cultural status of digital technologies*, *Journal of Computer-Mediated
Communication*, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmac023

-- *Toward Successful Esports Team: How Does National Diversity Affect
Multiplayer Online Battle Arena Video Games*. *Proceedings of the 56th
Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences*.

*-- **Microtransaction politics in FIFA Ultimate Team: game fans, Twitch
streamers, and Electronic Art*, in*: **EA Sports FIFA: Feeling the Game,
Bloomsbury Academic Press*.
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/ea-sports-fifa-9781501375347