Published on 5 June 2020
Academics at the University of York have launched a global community for researchers and industry stakeholders who share a focus on innovation in esports and sports.
The Arena Research Cluster (ARC) aims to facilitate knowledge exchange and inspire collaboration and innovation amongst researchers and industry professionals.
Forming a distributed think tank for the esports community, ARC provides a point of contact for expert knowledge. ARC’s online reference library serves as a vehicle to navigate the substantial but fragmented esports research spanning numerous disciplines. Members can also subscribe to an online mailing list to receive research updates and submit their own work to the library.
ARC Co-director and Professor of Computer Science at the University of York, Anders Drachen, says, “ARC is a vehicle through which researchers and professionals can connect, share resources and start new partnerships.”
“ARC aims to promote research to the wider esports community, celebrating the ground-breaking work taking place and its relevance and application for industry,” continues Drachen.
With innovations from esports transferring into traditional sports, and vice-versa, ARC also serves the physical sports and motorsports communities.
The University of York is home to the largest university-based esports research group worldwide and is a member of the ESL-led Weavr consortium, providing world-class expertise in artificial intelligence/advanced machine learning and data analytics to help transform the way fans experience esports.