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The Routledge Handbook of Esports recently launched in the UK, promising to offer ‘the first fully comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of esports’.
Publishers say the book ’emphasises the multifaceted nature of esports and explores the most pressing issues defining the competitive video gaming landscape today, while explaining technical terms and gaming jargon in a user-friendly manner, and maintaining a balanced tone throughout’.
It’s designed for students and researchers with an interest in esports, gaming, or sport studies, and for practitioners and policy makers in the industry.
The Routledge Handbook of Esports has more than 700 pages, with 62 chapters structured around ten key themes:
- Introduction to Esports
- Esports Research
- Esports Players
- Esports Business and Management
- Esports Media and Communication
- Esports Education
- Critical Concerns in Esports
- Global Esports Cultures
- Esports Future Directions
- Key Terms Definitions
Each chapter has key highlights, an assessment of the latest research, examples and recommendations, plus case studies or industry interviews.
The Routledge Handbook of Esports has been edited by a mix of experienced academics including Seth E. Jenny, Nicolas Besombes, Tom Brock, Amanda C. Cote and Tobias M. Scholz, and contains the work of 93 esports academics and industry specialists overall.
“In total, the book has 62 chapters offering key insights into the latest in esports research, along with many practical examples and recommendations that are now being implemented by industry leaders.”
Dr Tom Brock, Manchester Metropolitan University
The hardback copy of the book is currently priced at £153.75 in a Black Friday sale, down from £205, while the eBook is costs £32.99 in the sale (down from the usual price of £43.99). It can be bought from the Routledge website linked at the bottom of this article, plus other retailers like WHSmith.
On the lofty price, it’s typical of these handbooks to be expensive in their first two years, as it’s part of their sales strategy to sell them to university libraries. The book will launch in a more affordable paperback form at a later date.
The book has a chapter dealing with ‘The Future of Esports’, which raises questions around longer term social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
There’s also a section on esports journalism by Jacob Wolf and Amanda C. Cote, joining other sections on esports business and management, esports players, research and more.
Dr. Benjamin Sharpe, the senior lecturer in Cognitive Psychology behind University of Chichester’s new Psychology of Esports degree, also contributed.
Graham Ashton, Esports External Affairs Manager for Riot Games EMEA, also contributed a chapter on the topic of ‘Developers, Publishers, and Game Design Considerations’.
Speaking of Riot, it recently launched a new legal disputes resolution mechanism in EMEA, and the book has a chapter in the book on ‘Esports Governance and Esports Law’, which also deals with issues relating to player contracts and disputes.
Dr Tom Brock, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, told Esports News UK: “The book includes chapters on ‘Esports Governance and Esports Law’, which provide a useful lens for understanding Riot Games’ recent move to update its legal dispute resolution mechanism, as evidenced by its November 2024 launch of the Dispute Resolution for Riot Games’ Esports (EMEA).
“It highlights how the dominant control of developers/publishers in esports—exercised through intellectual property rights—enables companies like Riot to establish tailored rules and dispute processes to adapt to issues concerning fairness and integrity.
“The book also has a chapter on the ‘Future of Esports’, which stresses the industry’s role in ensuring longer term social and economic sustainability, such as by providing players with a transparent process through which to resolve prize money or salary disputes—precisely what Riot’s new initiative aims to accomplish across its EMEA ecosystems for League of Legends and Valorant.
“In total, the book has 62 chapters offering key insights into the latest in esports research, along with many practical examples and recommendations that are now being implemented by industry leaders.”
You can get a copy of the Routledge Handbook of Esports on the Routledge website here.
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.
