Shenyang City University offers a new video-gaming course that teaches students how to play, produce, promote, and provide professional commentary for video games.
eSports in Shenyang City University
A Chinese university has recently announced the addition of a new video-gaming course as part of its education program starting 2020.
The university even constructed its own gaming lab to serve as training grounds for students who will be enrolling for the course. China’s eSports industry has continued to boom, surmounting to a net worth of around $127.81 million dollars.
Shenyang City University teaches students how to play strategically, produce and promote video games, and provide commentary for competitive eSports game events.
Mr. Li Gang, deputy chancellor for Shenyang City University shared that the initiative to set-up the elective course in because of the success of the Chinese team “Invictus Gaming” in the recent world championship of the online game “League of Legends” last year.
The course cultivates not only video game players, but also game analysts, game testers, commentary hosts, and as tournament organizers.
A teacher under the video-gaming program defended the purpose of teaching the course;
Gaming is not just playing. It is a science. Skills, analytics, and logical thinking are crucial in every video-game. The entertainment it brings to the audience wouldn’t be possible if there were no science and skills training involved. eSports industry is a huge industry, it has opened a lot of opportunities for work since its creation.
The Pioneer in video-gaming courses
Shenyang City University wasn’t the first in China to offer video-gaming courses.
The Lanxiang Technical School in eastern China was the pioneer in offering gaming courses in China. Lanxiang saw the great potential of eSports in China, so they first launched their gaming course for an annual school fee of $1617, they immediately attracted 50 students on their first year of implementation.
League of Legends is an online game that is popular globally. Last November 2018, the brand “Invictus Gaming” was raised to the pedestal as the first Chinese team to win the title of League of Legend world champion.
With this feat from the Chinese team, it just adds fuel to the fire of enthusiasm that Chinese have towards eSports.
eSports will also be included in the medal sports category for the upcoming 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
