National Student Esports (NSE), the official body for university esports in the UK, today launches a first-of-it’s-kind digital community platform designed to support and promote university esports. Launched today to coincide with students receiving their A Level results, the platform offers key information outlining esports activity at their chosen university and is destined to become a valuable tool for future students deciding to where to study.
The online hub aims to improve the accessibility of university esports for incoming and existing students, as well as university staff and stakeholders in the future development of university esports. NSE also want to create opportunities for students for whom university esports doesn’t necessarily mean competing in tournaments: content creators, event managers, aspiring marketers, etc. The platform provides a suite of tools allowing students to self manage their universities online esports presence and plug their content into the wider community.
Among the sites key features s a searchable directory of universities with profile pages managed by student leaders. Each university is able to aggregate and promote streamers, user submitted news stories and features, and detail the esports history of their university including teams, achievements, and notable alumni.
University is often a time to explore and develop skills that ultimately influence career choices and success. The platform provides a home for content detailing the careers of industry leaders in the video games space to help students understand the roles and career paths available, from event management to development, journalism and marketing.
As well as providing key info for students, the platform will offer students and university administrators helpful resources and guidance such as policy templates for societies, tools to help universities develop esports spaces and information on relevant deals and discounts.
“The university esports scene in the UK is a thriving and dynamic ecosystem that’s expanding rapidly. We want to give that community a space to achieve their goals and create a foundation for achieving our own vision of creating the best university esports experience worldwide. Our platform is a means to do that by promoting connectivity and accessibility without trying to change the way people do things.” said Jonathan Tilbury, Executive Director of NSE. “Industry insight and careers advice is also an important part of the platform, and NSE as an organisation. A lot of students might want to be casters or referees, or work in production, and we want to give them the tools and knowledge to pursue that. We also want the platform to help educate university staff, as well as other stakeholders, to encourage investment into societies and students and develop the future of university esports”
NSE was launched in May by Benchmark, a global group of organisations that specialise in the development of sport and entertainment related networks, and is supported by British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), the national governing body for university sport in the UK. By working with student organisations and game publishers, and with BUCS to leverage their knowledge, relationships and infrastructure across the higher education sector, NSE aims to raise the profile of university esports and create the best university esports experience worldwide.
For more information please visit www.nse.gg or follow @nse_gg, Facebook.com/National Student Esports
