ERNC 2022 – Esports Research Network Conference
Conference Overview
The Esports Research Network Conference 2022 (ERNC 2022) was held as an international in-person conference from 21–23 November 2022 in Jönköping, Sweden, and was presented by the Media, Management & Transformation Centre (MMTC) at Jönköping International Business School. ERNC 2022 marked the first fully in-person ERN conference and brought together researchers, students, practitioners, and industry stakeholders to engage with pressing questions surrounding sustainability in esports and the digital society.
Hosted in Jönköping, widely recognised as the City of DreamHack, the conference was strategically aligned with DreamHack Winter 2022 (24–27 November), enabling participants to connect academic debate with one of the world’s largest digital and esports festivals. While the conference emphasised in-person engagement, selected key sessions and panels were live-streamed to ensure broader accessibility and international reach.
Theme and Contributions
ERNC 2022 focused on Sustainable Esports in the Digital Society, addressing how esports can continue to develop while maintaining long-term economic viability, social responsibility, and environmental awareness. The conference approached sustainability as a multidimensional challenge that extends beyond business models to include wellbeing, governance, inclusion, labour conditions, education, and environmental impact.
Contributions examined esports as a complex digital ecosystem and a “total social fact”, linking gaming, media, culture, education, business, and sport. Research highlighted how rapid professionalisation and platformisation have created new opportunities, while simultaneously exposing structural vulnerabilities related to financial instability, labour precarity, governance, and unequal access. Several sessions explored the tensions between professional and grassroots esports and the need to strengthen value co-creation across different ecosystem levels.
Economic sustainability formed a central strand of the programme, with contributions addressing sustainable business models, strategic management, innovation, entrepreneurship, sponsorship dynamics, governance structures, and career pathways within esports. Research also examined how organisations navigate intellectual property, platform dependency, and the balance between standardisation and flexibility in a rapidly evolving industry.
Social sustainability was addressed through work on health and wellbeing, diversity and inclusion, labour conditions, ethics, education, and grassroots participation. Contributions explored mental health, burnout, injury prevention, gender and minority participation, toxic behaviour, leadership, and long-term athlete development. A strong emphasis was placed on translating research insights into practical frameworks that can support healthier, more inclusive esports environments.
Environmental sustainability emerged as an increasingly important dimension of esports research. Contributions investigated the environmental footprint of esports events, digital infrastructures, and travel, as well as strategies for increasing transparency, reducing emissions, and fostering environmentally responsible practices. The conference positioned esports as both a contributor to environmental challenges and a potential testing ground for sustainable solutions within the digital society.
Keynotes, Panels, and Sessions
ERNC 2022 featured a diverse programme of keynote talks, panels, symposia, and track sessions that combined academic research with applied and industry perspectives. Panels addressed topics such as HR and careers in esports, sustainable business, diversity and inclusion, ethical challenges, and #GGForAll, bringing together researchers, industry leaders, practitioners, and community representatives.
The conference programme included multiple parallel research tracks covering sustainability in grassroots and business ecosystems, performance and health in esports, psychology and HR, esports business evolution, culture, education, gender and participation, and research development sessions. A dedicated symposium focused on the Handbook of Esports book project, highlighting the maturation of esports as an interdisciplinary research field.
Media and Recordings
Selected panels and keynote sessions were live-streamed during the conference, allowing remote audiences to engage with key discussions. They were also uploaded to YouTube.
Sponsors and Partners
ERNC 2022 was supported by ESL FACEIT Group, Jönköping Municipality, Ubisoft, and Esports United. Their support enabled the delivery of the conference and reinforced the shared commitment to building a sustainable future for esports across academic, industry, and community contexts.
Conference Chair
Brian McCauley
Jönköping University, Sweden
Scientific Committee
Leona Achtenhagen (Jönköping University); Adele Berndt (Jönköping University); Tobias M. Scholz (Jönköping University); Juho Hamari (Tampere University); Nicolas Besombes (University of Paris); Maria Törhönen (GoFore); Joseph Macey (University of Turku); Julia Hiltscher (ESL); Stephanie Orme (Emmanuel College); Seth E. Jenny (Slippery Rock University); Craig McNulty (Queensland University of Technology); Tom Brock (Manchester Metropolitan University); Amanda Cote (University of Oregon); David Hedlund (St. John’s University); Mark Campbell (University of Limerick); Yaewon Jin (Yonsei University); William Partin (Google).
Organising Committee
Philippa Berglund (Jönköping University); Prince Chacko Johnson (Jönköping University); Joaquin Cestino (Jönköping University); Daniel Alejandro de los Rios Pérez (Jönköping University); Miralem Helmfalk (Linnaeus University); Michael Trotter (Umeå University); Jonathan Kemper (Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University); Benedikt Staege (Staege Creations); Oliver Leis (Leipzig University); Maria Ruotsalainen (University of Jyväskylä); Usva Friman (Tampere University).