WHERE GLOBAL ESPORTS RESEARCH MEETS LOCAL IMPACT
November 12–14, 2025
The Esports Research Network (ERN) invites proposals for the 2025 ERN Conference, a three-day, non-stop digital event where esports research meets the frontier of digital society. This is not just another online conference—it is a 24 hours/day for 3 days global production, where live, interactive sessions follow the sun across three continents, showcasing how esports operates as a living laboratory for innovation, identity, and inclusion in the digital age.
Supported by livestream technology, and produced in collaboration with leading academic institutions, this event blends high-quality digital production with serious academic inquiry. Presentations will be hosted live on Twitch, with each regional hub acting as a full production team and research node:
- Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania & Michigan State University (Americas)
- University of Staffordshire (EMEA)
- UNSW Sydney (Asia-Pacific)
Conference Theme: FUTURE REALITIES: ESPORTS AS A GLOBAL LAB
This year’s theme focuses on esports as both a subject and a method for understanding digital transformation across education, industry, media, and public life. We encourage critical and creative engagement with how esports intersects with social, technological, cultural, and economic change.
A Conference Immersed in the Digital Society It Explores
“Future Realities” reflects our core belief that esports is not only a competitive entertainment ecosystem but also a testing ground for the digital transformation of society itself. From grassroots organization to virtual economies and from streaming culture to emerging models of global governance, esports offers fertile ground to investigate pressing issues within our interconnected digital future.
Our three-region hub model ensures the conference is always live, always local, and always accessible, offering a new template for academic collaboration that is as inclusive and dynamic as the community it serves. Presenters request their preferred hub to present based on time zone, topical theme, or local fit, ensuring equitable participation without sacrificing global exchange.
Suggested Topics Include (but are not limited to):
- Regional esports infrastructures, history, and policy
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion in esports participation and leadership
- Collegiate and amateur esports development
- Game-based learning and educational esports programs
- Digital labor, creators, and platform economies
- Streaming, media, fan communities, and audience engagement in esports
- Technological innovation (e.g., AI, data, analytics, streaming tools) in esports
- Esports health, well-being, coaching, and performance science
- Publisher strategies, governance, standardization, and IP
- Cross-regional collaboration and transnational esports institutions
- Ethics, moderation, and community management in digital spaces
- Methodologies for investigating esports in-person and online
- Global implications for esports business and management
We welcome contributions from across disciplines, including, but not limited to, media studies, business, education, communication, sociology, game studies, sports science, economics, law, digital humanities, and beyond.
All sessions will be conducted in English. Presenters will receive technical and production support from their selected regional hub.
Website: https://esportsresearch.net
Questions: ernc25@esportsresearch.net
Code of Conduct: https://esportsresearch.net/ernc25-code-of-conduct
KEY DATES:
- Call for Proposals (CFP) Launch: June 1, 2025
- Proposals Deadline: August 1, 2025
- Notifications Sent: September 8, 2025
- Online Rehearsals: October 1–10, 2025
- Conference Dates: November 12–14, 2025
- Content Archiving & Feedback: Begins November 21, 2025
Powered by Innovation
With production support from ERN partners, close collaboration with the regional hubs, and communication via Twitch. This conference doesn’t just talk about esports innovation—it embodies it. Each regional hub operates like a mini digital studio, experimenting with new forms of engagement, accessibility, and academic storytelling. Whether you’re a veteran researcher or a new scholar, this is your global stage.
All proposals must be submitted via online survey by August 1, 2025.
Link for the Submission of the Proposal
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:
Americas
- Seth E. Jenny, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Amanda C. Cote, Michigan State University, USA
- Jonathon “Jono” Eaton, Michigan State University, USA
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)
- Cameron Vanloo, Staffordshire University, UK
Asia-Pacific
- Oskar Page, UNSW Sydney, Australia
- Guy Lobwein, UNSW Sydney, Australia
- Xander Gonzaga, UNSW Sydney, Australia
Conference
- Tobias M. Scholz, University of Agder, Norway
- David Eitel, Acer, Germany
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:
- Nico Besombes, University of Paris, France
- Tom Brock, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
- Amanda C. Cote, Michigan State University, USA
- Joanne Donoghue, New York Institute of Technology, USA
- Julia Hiltscher, University of Bonn, Germany
- Seth E. Jenny, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, USA
- Yaewon Jin, Ewha Womans University, South Korea
- Oliver Leis (ERN Ombudsperson), University of Leipzig, Germany
- Brian McCauley, Jönköping University, Sweden
- Tobias M. Scholz, University of Agder, Norway