Career Pathways
When the topic of scholastic esports arises, some mistakenly focus solely on “esports.” We’re about more than just gaming. NASEF’s mission is to provide opportunities for ALL students to use esports as a platform to acquire critical communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills needed to thrive in work and in life.
The young women and men who comprise the esports world are more than the gamers. There are a number of different pathways and roles that must be filled for esports to continue to thrive!
The esports ecosystem diagram below is a visual representation of the opportunities available to students within scholastic esports. Each domain on this graphic has a corresponding curricular pathway, including which classes to take alongside career options that currently exist for each area.
After examining the ecosystem diagram, see the available internships and jobs listed on the sidebar of this page that are brought to you by our partner, Hitmarker. There are internships that students may qualify for right now! Or, see the range of longer-term possibilities by diving into the career section.
NASEF has created a collection of descriptions for the jobs listed in the ecosystem diagram. Read through these to explore the possibilities and plan for a future in esports!
The Esports Ecosystem
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License attributed to the North America Scholastic Esports Federation (NASEF) and the original can be found here: https://www.nasef.org/learning/career-pathways/
Finding Your Career | Hillary Phan
Careers in Esports | Landon Gorbenko
Strategists
In esports, teams use strategists to compile data to improve in-game performance. Career pathways include: Performance Coaches, Data Scientists, Mathematicians, Theory Crafters, Financial Advisors and Analysts.
Content Creators
Content creators help tell the story of each team, streamer, company, or organization they represent. These careers include: Journalists, Shoutcasters, Streamers, Software Developers, and Fandom Art & Media.
Entrepreneurs
Entrepreneurial activities in esports can be anything from creating a website, sponsor deck, graphics, to creating marketing plans. Careers may include: Marketing, Business Developers, Corporate Sponsorship, and Web Developers
Organizers
Big events like DreamHack, leagues like LCS and OWL, and other major esports programs are only possible because of the stellar coordinators working behind-the-scenes. Careers may include: Event Planner, Team General Manager, Venue Coordinator, Project Manager, Cybersecurity Specialist, or Community Organizer.
