Ok I've been thinking a lot about this & have some thoughts now that I've reviewed the exam guide and such. Not posting 30 tweets at once, come along for my thoughts in real time

The first thing I did was search the term "intellectual property" in the study guide. It pops up 3x https://twitter.com/EsportsCi/status/1387062940201885696

This way, way, way undersells how important IP is in this ecosystem. Teams SUCK as a core business if all they want to do is be competitive because teams are wholly reliant on the game developer's IP. The economics are 100% dependent on this effect for the most part

It's a cliche in esports at this point, but no one owns "football." Yes there are complex rights associated with developing football content, but theoretically anyone can develop some level of content based on the game free from worrying about a central IP rights holder of that

This is why the business of video game sports or esports is fundamentally different than any other sport. It's not the athletics, it's the ownership of the core IP itself

Teams and content organizations are fundamentally fighting this concept every time they do something with their business (with Valve being the major, MAJOR exception to this but even then they hold the IP rights at the end of the day)

This is why teams are bifurcating their businesses between being competitive and then something else. It's why we're a marketing and talent agency as much as an esports org. It's why 100 Thieves is a content org as much or more so than a team

Understanding this particular dynamic is THE THING you need to get this industry and operate somewhat successfully. Devs can choose to own EVERYTHING if they want, and getting employees to derive value in other parts of the business is what you need to do in order to succeed

So the rest of this sort of fundamentally ignores this fact and hits on what I think is the other key error here:

This document about esports conflates the growing Twitch/YouTube/influencer creator scene with esports itself. They are NOT the same and it's important to get that

From their materials:

"As esports becomes increasingly focused on content creators, influencers, and the like, content marketing is fast becoming a major part of any esports business strategy"

No it's not, not really. That's a separate business that a brand is focusing in

It drives me wild when I still hear things like "esports is the Wild West and it's a rocket ship!"

No, it's also not that. Devs aren't positioning every vaguely competitive title as an esport anymore. They know the money and attention is with influencers

So growing OUT of what esports had a major hand in (standing up the big livestreaming broadcast networks) was a new industry that was wholly focused on influencer driven content. THIS IS NOT ESPORTS

TWITCH/YOUTUBE ARE NOT ESPORTS

You have to have a similar skillset and a lot of the same players have operated in these spaces, but esports as a core industry is small, growing, and more predictable industry than it was thought to be a few years ago.

And that's ok!

Esports is doing just fine and will be around forever now. But just like other sports, you market them in about the same way as they're hardcore sports fans like any other, but you can't get around the concerns of IP

So the primary objective of ANY stakeholder in esports is developing original IP that allows for complete control of the brand so they can sell that without having to explicitly go through a developer for everything

So my main issue with this whole thing is, what are we terming as "esports?" If it's that, it should be utterly focused on the core of running a competitive team, monetizing that, and mostly about navigating the perils of not owning the game IP

I don't disagree that certifications are a long term trend that's growing, and giving the public a verifiable way into an industry and going around traditional education that frequently leaves students in debt is great! Do more of that!

But there has to be as much focus on educating the potential esports industry employees as on certifying them. Otherwise we're just codifying what a group of us old timers think are best practices in an industry that doesn't even acknowledge how much not owning game IP fucks us

So if this is where we're headed, let's use our collective efforts to EDUCATE people at a fair price, in which the education leads to certification and we have faith that the students that finish the certification are well trained and ready for the industry.

I don't disagree with the direction, but a math test on business competence in an industry that can't figure out what product it's supposed to sell or how much teams are competitive vs a marketing exercise for fashion brands and China just isn't it in my opinion

Happy to talk to anyone part of it to explain my reasoning more, but before we get to this stage we have to figure out what we're doing first and how we're defining this industry overall. Because if it's "esports" that's a lot smaller and more focused than this exam encompasses