Esports
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Item Esports’ Debut as a Medal Event at 2023 Asian Games: Exploring Public Perceptions with BERTopic and GPT-4 Topic Fine-Tuning(2025-01-07) Qian, Yizhou; Yu, Bo; Li, Weizhe; Xu, ChenglongThis study examined the public opinions of esports at the 2023 Asian Games and value co-creation during the event using an LLM-enhanced BERTopic modeling analysis. We identified five major themes representing public perceptions, as well as how major stakeholders co-created value within and beyond the esports ecosystem. Key findings highlighted the strategic use of social media marketing to influence public opinion and promote esports events and brands, emphasizing the importance of event logistics and infrastructure. Additionally, the study revealed the co-creation value contributed by stakeholders outside the traditional esports ecosystem, particularly in promoting national representation and performance. Our findings supported the ongoing efforts to legitimize esports as a sport, noting that mainstream recognition remains a challenge. The inclusion of esports as a medal event showcased broader acceptance and helped mitigate negative public perceptions. Moreover, contributions from non-traditional stakeholders underscored the value of cross-subcultural collaborations in esports.Item Navigating Fan Reactions: The Role of Innovation Resistance and Acceptance in Smart Stadium Technology Use(2025-01-07) Anderski, Matthias; Fortagne, Marius Arved; Kapfer, Kevin; Lis, Bettina; Ströbel, TimThe adoption of Smart Stadium Technologies (SST) has become essential to meet increasing demands for real-time data, interactive experiences, and personalized content among sports fans. This study aims to understand drivers and barriers influencing the intention to use SST by integrating the Technology Acceptance Model and Innovation Resistance Theory, alongside fan identification concepts. We conducted a survey of 504 sports event attendees and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling. Our findings indicate that usefulness, ease of use, and hedonic value significantly enhance the intention to use SST, while distraction and social risks serve as resistance factors. Security concerns did not show an impact. Fan identification moderates these effects, with higher identification weakening the positive impact of hedonic value and amplifying the impact of social risks. This research contributes to the understanding of technologies in sports and offers practical recommendations for fan engagement through SST, tailored to different fan types.Item Player Behavior Analysis for Predicting Player Identity Within Pairs in Esports Tournaments: A Case Study of Counter-Strike Using Binary Random Forest Classifier(2025-01-07) Zimmer, Franziska; Irvan, Mhd; Perera, M. Nisansala Sevwandi; Tamponi, Roberta; Kobayashi, Ryosuke; Shigetomi Yamaguchi , RieThis research utilizes a binary random forest classifier to predict individual players based on their in-game behavior, analyzing and distinguishing within player pairs through a comprehensive set of in-game features. The analysis is based on a dataset from 119 "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" (CS:GO) esports tournament matches. The classifier achieves a testing accuracy of up to 87%, highlighting its ability to effectively differentiate between players. A key contribution of this paper is the demonstration of the potential to predict player identities through in-game behavior data from CS:GO. This has implications for the gaming industry such as mitigating security issues. Additionally, the study pinpoints a detailed set of behavioral features that can uniquely identify players in a competitive esports setting.Item Character Preferences in Competitive Games: A Study among League of Legend Player(2025-01-07) Laato, Samuli; Karaosmanoglu, Sukran; Hamari, Juho; Brunnhofer, Marlies; Kordyaka, BastianVarious multiplayer online games, such as League of Legends, offer players a selection of characters from which they can choose one to play with. In the case of League of Legends, these characters (called champions) differ in terms of game mechanics, appearance, and lore. Understanding the reasons behind players' champion preferences can help designers create more engaging playable characters. Therefore, in this study, we investigated qualitatively how League of Legends players (N=34) justify their champion preferences. Our findings revealed mechanics and gameplay as the most dominant given reasons in almost all contexts for both positive and negative preferences. Champion aesthetics and lore were mentioned in connection to individual champions, but also in relation to the overall representativeness of the game's champion pool. We found evidence that the in-game player cultures were shaping particularly which champions players disliked. Interestingly, female participants rarely mentioned gender as an important characteristic when justifying their champion preferences, but were overwhelmingly choosing female champions as their favorites. These findings warrant further study into, for example, the apparent asymmetry in how players of different genders develop and form their character preferences.Item Exploring Sponsor Integration and Networks in an Esports Competition: The Case of EA Sports’ FIFA 23 Global Series(2025-01-07) Burton, NicholasThe creation of esports competitions by traditional sports properties has been a significant contributor to the growth and commercial success of the esports industry. Component to this success has been the verisimilitude of esports games to their sporting counterparts. This research examines a unique context of this gaming realism, exploring the extent to which sponsors of traditional football leagues extend their partnerships to that organization’s esports competition. Taking a network analysis approach, the study collated all sponsors of 22 participating leagues and federations in EA Sports’ FIFA 23 Global Series and conducted a two-stage analysis of the network created. The study’s findings suggest that little integration exists between league sponsors and their esports counterparts, with minimal centrality and interaction present in the sponsor network. These findings advance our understanding of esports sponsorship and provide new insight into the sponsorship applications of networks.Item Introduction to the Minitrack on Esports(2025-01-07) Siuda, Piotr; Darvin, Lindsey; Witkowski, Emma; Hedlund, DavidItem Environmental Sustainability Efforts in Esports Organizations toward Climate Action(2025-01-07) Ojala, Arto; Hasanovic, Emir; Hasan, RakibulAs the global esports industry continues to grow, concerns regarding its environmental sustainability have garnered increasing attention. However, there is still an apparent lack of research on esports that intersect environmental sustainability, particularly to climate action. Our study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of efforts made by the esports stakeholders to achieve climate action. The findings reinforce the importance of existing United Nations’ climate action framework for esports and highlight the potential for esports organizations to promote greater environmental responsibility.