UK-based university esports body NUEL has partnered with education provider Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies, which is part of Nottingham Trent University.
NUEL, which runs the Amazon University Esports tournaments in the UK and Ireland along with GGTech, will relocate its head office to the Confetti campus in Nottingham as part of the deal.
GGTech, which runs university tournaments across Europe, is also involved in the partnership, which will hope to ‘promote and further develop esports in the UK’, strengthen the Amazon competition, get new participants involved and raise the standard of opportunities for students interested in a career in esports.
The news comes as the institute prepares to officially open Confetti X — a new £5m, 14,000 sq ft dedicated esports production complex in Nottingham. It’s a space for students to access facilities and technology for esports production and other emerging technologies, and has already played host to esports tournaments, including the 2022 British Esports Student Champs Finals and the qualifying rounds of the recent inaugural Commonwealth Esports Championships, which saw the UK home nations win 11 medals.
Commonwealth players trained at Confetti as part of a partnership with the Global Esports Federation. You can check out our recent interview with the Global Esports Federation here.
“Our partnership highlights shared ambitions to help advance esports as an inclusive and innovative industry, and I am certain that, together with our new esports production complex Confetti X, this is another step towards making Nottingham a hub of the UK’s esports industry.”
Craig Chettle MBE, Confetti
Confetti X will become NUEL and GG Tech’s default UK venue going forward, where they will host major university esports tournaments at the facilities, allowing students to run the production of the event. The primary goal is to increase the awareness and accessibility of careers in the esports industry.
The move will also see NUEL gain access to Confetti’s 25+ years of industry expertise and contacts across production technologies within live events, TV, film, music, and games, whilst also improving their broadcast production values through access to Confetti’s facilities.
In 2021, Confetti launched the UK’s first BSc Esports Production university degree. The institute now runs three esports production courses at college, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, as well as other courses relevant to esports like content creation, virtual production and graphic design. Confetti offers further and higher education provision.
NUEL will also provide Confetti’s students with regular paid opportunities to work on event broadcasts for tournaments nationwide, while GGTech will do likewise internationally, for example with collaborations on the broadcast of the pan-European Amazon University Esports Masters competition, held this year in Alicante, Spain.
‘We can collectively grow grassroots esports and help the industry as a whole’
Craig Chettle MBE, founder and chief executive of Confetti Media Group, commented: “Alongside our longstanding partnership with the British Esports Federation, this exciting initiative with GGTech and NUEL will further support our mission to shape the future of esports education.
“We are excited by the opportunities set to be created and are thrilled that NUEL has chosen our campus and Nottingham as its UK base. Our partnership highlights shared ambitions to help advance esports as an inclusive and innovative industry, and I am certain that, together with our new esports production complex Confetti X, this is another step towards making Nottingham a hub of the UK’s esports industry.”
David Jackson, NUEL managing director, added: “After the success of our Amazon University Esports tournament in April, we are delighted to continue our collaboration with Confetti who are helping lead the way with their university education and their facilities. It is great that we can continue to help the next generation of students lead a career in esports whether it be in events production, game design, or casting.”
Tao Martinez, head of university esports development at GGTech, commented: “It is an exciting time for the esports industry which is growing by the day, and with that creates a plethora of opportunities in this field for university students to thrive in. Confetti’s work supplying university courses has been excellent for encouraging people to pursue a career in esports, and with their upcoming Confetti X complex, students will be able to gain valuable work experience using industry-grade facilities.
“Our shared goal is to continue improving the grassroots esports scene and levelling up services across the country for the latest wave of students who are poised to shape the esports industry. Through cultivating a positive environment and supporting student careers, we can collectively grow grassroots esports which will help the industry as a whole.”
Earlier this year, Confetti played host to a Halo Clash Series and Rainbow Six Memevitational 2022. And Jakub ‘Atroix’ Szmyt, who teaches esports production at Confetti, recently launched an esports broadcast production business, Greyscale.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
