Esports students at the University of Northampton will soon benefit from access to Epic.LAN’s in-house tournament platform.
The platform, which is used from small grassroots tournaments up to global esports series, will be deployed for students to practice industry standards in esports operations, backed up by lectures and guidance from the Epic.LAN team.
It’s the latest addition to the partnership between the UK-based esports operator, tournament and events organiser Epic.LAN and the University of Northampton.
This partnership started in 2021, with Northampton being the local university to Epic.LAN’s Kettering-based events, with a growing programme of student visits and experience at the UK LAN events.
Jon Winkle, Epic.LAN Managing Director, said: “Our events already provide a fantastic practical experience to students at the University of Northampton, complemented by guest lectures from a range of team members in topics such as streaming, casting and event management.
“The addition of the tournament platform and associated training from the Epic.LAN team will help to prepare students for the realities of esports operations going forwards in their careers.”
Jon Winkle, Epic.LAN
Dr Lucy Zhu, Programme Leader for Esports at the University of Northampton, added: “Our collaboration with Epic.LAN has now been running for three years, with students undertaking visits and placements at Epic.LAN events as well as guest lectures from experienced staff.
“Student feedback has been very positive with Epic.LAN providing a valuable contact point in the industry that allows them to build their industry experience and employability skills even from their first year.
“The contribution to teaching and feedback has been invaluable, the partnership not only shows how the degree content is linked to best practice in the industry but also provides advice to students on future job seeking and networking opportunities.”
It’s the latest esports and education news in the UK, and comes not long after UK players from Wolves Esports opened a new esports hub at a college, and the University of Salford won a bid for a €4m ‘GameHearts’ project.
There’s more info on the tournament platform at epictournaments.gg and on the University of Northampton’s esports programme at northampton.ac.uk/courses/esports-bsc-hons.
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.
