Gaming experts say the esports industry needs to be “professionalized.” An Esports Certification Institute would have solved that – but critics say its $400 paywall is discouraging to most and could trigger a pay-to-play scheme for those trying to get in.
LAST month, the Esports Certification Institute (ECI) was launched, offering a $400 certification for esports.
However, the organizers announced that it was “halting its plans” after only three days.
ECI was created by Former Dignitas Chief of Staff Ryan Friedman and Houston Rockets’ ex-VP of Esports Sebastian Park to test a person’s knowledge of esports and certify them to work in the industry.
According to Ben Nguyen, managing editor at The Mercury who accessed the study materials and exam provided by ECI, the topics ranged from marketing to the structure of esports tournaments but eerily reminded him of the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test).
He picked on questions like “Which continent has the greatest number of esports fans?” and the true/false question “North American esports fans skew younger than North American gaming fans on average.”
Other exam-takers have posted on Twitter some of the questions that are basically math problems with players as subjects- “A Valorant player reports the following kills: 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 22, 26, 29, 35, 37, 38. What is the value of the 3rd quartile of the data set?”
Even industry leaders and pro players regarded the questions to be easily memorized, solved, and does not challenge a real working knowledge of the industry.
Additionally, they’ve set a paywall of $400 that, critics charged, is discouraging to most and could trigger a pay-to-play scheme for those trying to get in.
Amid controversy, Friedman commented, ““Despite massive industry growth in the past five years, securing a career in esports is still often more about who you know than what you can do.”
“The Esports Certification Institute is uniquely positioned to bring standardization and professionalism to the talent acquisition process in esports while offering a way for applicants to stand out.”
ECI has already taken down the exam.
While their intentions were good, they felt that it would be better to step back and recalibrate on how they will execute their mission.
Training for esports
For the gaming community, hands-on experience is still the key to getting into the industry, whether by starting as a Discord server moderator, an esports journalist, a social media manager, or a player.
The Philippines is currently at the starting point where one school, Lyceum of the Philippines University has partnered with Tier One Entertainment, an Esports and Gaming entertainment company to offer a Bachelor of Science in Esports.
Interested students can choose between two 4-year course tracks of Esports Management or Game Design and Development, and a 2-year program to be an Associate in Esports and Game Design.
Other schools abroad may have started offering similar courses ahead of us but now that the Philippine pro players are actively dominating the international esports scene new blood is needed to support the players.
The introduction of the esports bachelor program also promotes Filipino artists in game design and could entice more game companies to set up development studios in the country just as Ubisoft have done in 2016 in Laguna. (HD)
Tags: #Esports, #EsportsCertificationInstitute, #training