[Air-L] CFP Esports minitrack HICSS56

[Piotr Siuda]

CALL FOR PAPERS: ESPORTS AT THE 56TH HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
SYSTEM SCIENCES

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 has become the fastest-growing area in sports. 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 generally larger in size and reach
than the biggest esports, with substantially more revenues and larger
player salaries in traditional sports. However, esports is quickly catching
up, given the growing number of broadcasted games and events, tournament
prize pools, availability of media rights, and increasing advertising and
sponsorship potential of esports games. Despite the increasing popularity
of esports, the research is still in its nascency. After an initial
descriptive stage, the focus shifts from explaining what esports is to a
more nuanced understanding of multiple phenomena present in the industry.

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; esports finances and revenues;
esports management and governance

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

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

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

Media Studies and Communications, e.g. cultural examinations; 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.

Law, e.g. copyright issues, intellectual property.

Health, Wellness and Medical Sciences, e.g., health and wellness of
players; comparing esports and traditional sports; esports as ‘real’,
‘genuine’ sports or new quality.

Technology, e.g. augmented, virtual, mixed and extended reality; haptic
technology and gaming.

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, 2022: Paper submission begins (through HICSS systems:
https://hicss-submissions.org/)
June 15, 2022: Paper submission deadline (11:59 pm HST)
August 17,2022: Notification of acceptance/rejection
September 22, 2022: Deadline for authors to submit final manuscript for
publication
October 1, 2022: 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
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

--

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

piotrsiuda.com

Institute of Social Communication and Media

Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland


*Recent papers:*

*--** 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

*-- **Cancer entertainment education and Netflix – an exploratory
study, **Educational
Media International**, *59(1), doi:
http://doi.org/10.1080/09523987.2022.2054115

*-- Sports gamers practices as a form of subversiveness - the example of
the FIFA ultimate team*, *Critical Studies in Media Communication*,
https://doi.org/10.1080/15295036.2021.1876897