NSE and Intel Partner To Announce FutureGen 2023

FutureGen 2023, the third edition of the esports and gaming programme, has been announced by National Student Esports (NSE). The NSE, as always, will be collaborating with hardware manufacturing giant, Intel.

With the ascent of esports, it was only a matter of time before an academic industry was built around it, and this programme has been formed with that in mind. The latest edition of FutureGen was preceded by extensions from two companies who are partners in this venture, which suggests that FutureGen is here to stay.

Image Credits | NSE & Intel

FuturGen is a unique platform

Students who pick up this programme will become familiar with the esports and gaming landscape; they’ll be attending lectures hosted by some of the biggest names in the industry, participate in workshops, and be part of a mentoring program that gives participants one-on-one interactions.

It will be a way for them to connect with insiders before entering this growing industry. Students can get in touch with the speakers through digital or physical means. There is a lot of time for the students to pick the brains of those who will be speaking in these courses. Anyone studying full-time in UK universities can apply. For now, only 20 full-time UK students can participate in the course.

Managing Director of NSE, Alex Coulson, had this to say in his announcement:

“The previous cohort was an amazing group of talented individuals, it’s great to see many of them in roles at leading companies like Pokémon, Esports Insider and EXCEL. Thank you to all the industry figures involved and especially Intel who enable us to do this program and provide a fantastic opportunity and accolade for our students that are aspiring esports industry professionals.”

Another thing to note is that online broadcasts will be available to NSE members even if they aren’t part of FutureGen 2023.

Speakers come from some of the biggest esports and gaming companies

Pokemon, Esports Insider, and EXCEL are pretty big as far as this industry is concerned. Those who speak in these programmes often come from pretty big companies as well. FutureGen 2023 is expected to have speakers from Xbox, Ubisoft, Unity, and FACEIT. The speakers also come from varying backgrounds like finance, marketing and journalism.

One of the big success stories from the previous year was the buddy system, where students got to pick brains and be in close touch with one industry expert each. It will be returning for FutureGen 2023. This is perhaps the biggest advantage of this programme; getting expert advice of this kind could have a lasting impact on a student’s career.

What is the future of academia in the esport industry?

At this moment in time, the academic side of the esports industry is still in its infancy. Over the years, there have been courses on some of the biggest franchises in pop culture in some of the biggest universities, and while esports is not completely in the same vein, the increasing number of courses on such subjects suggests that this will become the norm soon.

The larger content industry is getting exponentially bigger day-by-day, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there are courses being drawn up to prepare the people who will be leading these industries.  There is an increasing amount of literature on the history of this industry and websites dedicated to the academic side of esports now, which is evidence of the strides the industry has made over the years. FutureGen 2023 promises to be another successful programme for the NSE and Intel.