This is an edited book that fills a gap in knowledge by providing a comprehensive view of esports practice from the Asia and Pacific region. The volume looks at the development of esports through the interconnections between institutions, industries, players, and society, across the Asia-Pacific. Over the last two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has been central to the growth and development of esports. The value of this book lies in its ability to provide a view of esport from countries that are currently underrepresented in the literature such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines and Australia while still integrating chapters looking at more well-researched countries such as China, Korea, and Japan. Through its diverse case studies, the book serves as a resource for scholars and educators worldwide who seek diverse examples with which to improve understanding of the esports phenomenon and the inclusiveness of media and communication curricula. chapters “Introduction to Esports in the Asia-Pacific” and “Conclusions to Esports in the Asia–Pacific” are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book is dedicated to the analysis of the entrepreneurship in successful companies by presenting and comparing a series of case studies in the Asia-Pacific where many new companies have been growing successfully in the 21th century. In total, 5 cases in the manufacturing industry, 4 cases in the services industry, and 3 cases related to new business and social innovation are chosen from The mainland of China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and Vietnam. Each case provides insight into the entrepreneur’s aspiration, the processes of personal and business developments, the factors of success, and the inspirations drawn from the analysis. These cases are analyzed and compared from the viewpoints of entrepreneur’s motivation, ability of foreseeing changes and opportunities in the future business environment, core resources and innovation, knowledge management and culture for the company, determination and ethos. These are critical factors in value creation for customers and the society, especially in the future business environment. Finally, commonalities and uniquenesses in entrepreneurship relevant to industry sectors and social-economic-cultural contexts are clarified and a typical entrepreneurship model in the Asia-Pacific is proposed.

The Routledge Handbook of Esports offers the first fully comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of esports, one of the fastest growing sectors of the contemporary sports and entertainment industries. Global in coverage, the book emphasizes the multifaceted nature of esports and explores the most pressing issues defining the competitive video gaming landscape today. Featuring the work of 93 leading esports academics and industry specialists from around the world, and rigorously peer-reviewed, the book is structured around ten key themes: 1) Introduction to Esports, 2) Esports Research, 3) Esports Players, 4) Esports Business and Management, 5) Esports Media and Communication, 6) Esports Education, 7) Critical Concerns in Esports, 8) Global Esports Cultures, 9) Esports Future Directions, and 10) Key Terms Definitions. Examining the current state of esports, emerging areas of interest and the ongoing debates shaping the esports industry, each of the 62 chapters offers key highlights, an assessment of the latest research, practical esports examples and recommendations, and is complemented by enlightening case studies or industry interviews. For further academic and professional depth, chapters also include a guide to recommended additional resources. Explaining technical terms and gaming jargon in a user-friendly manner, and maintaining a balanced tone throughout, this handbook is essential reading for any student or researcher with an interest in esports, gaming, or sport studies, and for any practitioner or policy-maker working in the esports industry.

Esports Insights outlines the fundamental characteristics, features, and structures of the rapidly growing esports industry and acts as the perfect primer for readers without any prior knowledge of esports. Featuring international case studies in every chapter, this book showcases the contemporary nature of esports through illustrative, industry examples. By offering a concise and easy to understand introduction, it discusses the key components, stakeholders, and features of this commercially driven sector, which by its very nature is dynamic and highly complex. Exploring current regulatory and governance structures within esports, it unpacks the industry’s essential features by outlining the various genres, formats and stakeholders who are instrumental to the functioning of the esports industry. Adopting a critical but balanced analysis, the book discusses the social benefits of esports, outlining its potential as a tool for social inclusion and sport development, whilst acknowledging the potential impacts and risks of esports participation and spectatorship, related to health and wellbeing. Finally, Esports Insights also considers future developments and changes within esports, as the sector evolves and continues to professionalise. This book will be of interest to any student, researcher, or practitioner with an interest in sport business, sport and society, event studies, esports or video gaming, or the wider media industry.

Understanding Esports: An Introduction to the Global Phenomenon places professional Esports, a rapidly growing industry, in both the cultural and athletic landscape. This book explores how the rise of professional gaming has shaped—and been shaped by—media trends, interpersonal communication, and what it means to be classified as an athlete. Ryan Rogers has assembled contributors from a variety of backgrounds and experiences in order to provide a broad view of the history, experience, and impact of professional gaming. Scholars of media studies, communication, sports, and cultural studies will find this book especially useful.

The active economy incorporates several disciplines that include sport performance, sport business, recreation, tourism, physical activity, urban planning, leisure, and health and wellness, among others. From an academic and policy perspective, these disciplines are typically viewed as distinct, with only limited spillover, and consequently, limited research explores the interaction between them. However, each individual sector can be studied as interdependent rather than autonomous. By viewing the various sectors as part of a complex active ecosystem, policymakers and practitioners are better positioned to shape broad opportunities while maximizing the community value of sports, recreation, and wellness. Understanding the Active Economy and Emerging Research on the Value of Sports, Recreation, and Wellness provides a new view on the fields of sport, recreation, and health and wellness by exploring the interaction between these traditional separate disciplines. It includes sub-groups of the active economy such as health and wellness, active apparel and accessories, active equipment and sports betting but also ties in sub-groups from the ancillary sector such as tourism, design and infrastructure, media and content, and professional services. This book is intended for professionals, educators, and researchers working in the fields of sports, recreation, and health and wellness, as well as economists, executives, managers, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how sports, recreation, and wellness operate in the active economy.

This book takes a close look at branding and sponsorship in sport in the age of digital media. It examines how branding and sponsorship have evolved in response to the challenges and opportunities of new technologies. Featuring the work of leading international sport business researchers from four continents and twelve countries, the book explores key contemporary topics including esports, Name and Image Likeness (NIL) rights, viewer experience, machine learning, social media use by athletes, sport migration, and the impact of COVID-19. It presents cutting-edge cases and new data across sports and events including the Olympics, the NBA, international football, the rafting world championships, and collegiate sports. The book is an essential resource for advanced students, researchers, practitioners and policy-makers working in sport business and management, sport marketing, digital marketing, marketing communications or brand management.

This edited volume is first of its kind to document and critically analyse the changes took place snice China’s opening-up and reform and its impact on Dongbei, China’s North-East region, known for its remote and vast landscape, unique and othered culture, rich resources, mighty infrastructures and industries, geopolitical significance. Through presenting up-to-date and multidimensional case studies, the book covers three major aspects of Dongbei, which put people at the heart of our scholarly focus, namely people’s mediated life through traditional and new media; people’s social, cultural, and living spaces; artistic and fictional representations of people’s everyday life.

China’s Digital Presence in the Asia-Pacific explores China’s digital presence in the Asia-Pacific region. Drawing on political economy of the media, industry analysis, platform studies and cultural policy studies, the book shows that China’s commercial digital platforms are increasingly recognized outside China and can disseminate Chinese culture more effectively than government supported media. It illustrates how these platforms are contributing to Chinese cultural influence, their perceived reputation and obstacles in the region while pursuing a combined approach of culture+, industry+, internet+, and platform+. In considering the multi-layered rise of the China argument, the book considers its growing technological status as an innovative nation through four policy approaches: culture+, industry+, Internet+ and platform+. Other + characterizations include intelligent+ and social+. These + characterizations show how China is rejuvenating, drawing technological knowhow from the region and adding to its cultural (and soft) power. The book focuses on six locations: Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. The authors analyse Beijing’s changing policies towards the governance of culture, Internet technologies and digital platforms, as well as examining consumer perceptions of China and Chinese products in the Asia-Pacific region. In using the + characterizations, the authors provide a comprehensive analysis of how Chinese cultural and creative industries became digital, as well as investigating the key players and the leading platforms including Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, TikTok, Baidu, iQiyi and Meituan.

The unprecedented rate of global, technological, and societal change calls for a radical, new understanding of literacy. This book offers a nuanced framework for making sense of literacy by addressing knowledge as contextualised, embodied, multimodal, and digitally mediated. In today’s world of technological breakthroughs, social shifts, and rapid changes to the educational landscape, literacy can no longer be understood through established curriculum and static text structures. To prepare teachers, scholars, and researchers for the digital future, the book is organised around three themes – Mind and Materiality; Body and Senses; and Texts and Digital Semiotics – to shape readers’ understanding of literacy. Opening up new interdisciplinary themes, Mills, Unsworth, and Scholes confront emerging issues for next-generation digital literacy practices. The volume helps new and established researchers rethink dynamic changes in the materiality of texts and their implications for the mind and body, and features recommendations for educational and professional practice.