Constructing authentic esports spectatorship: An ethnography David Jian-Jia Cumming ORCID: 0000-0002-0121-476X Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October 2020 School of Computing and Information Systems Melbourne School of Engineering The University of Melbourne Abstract Formally organised competitive video gaming, commonly known as esports, has seen a rapid rise in popularity over the past decade as a form of spectator entertainment. Thousands of fans pack grand stadia across the globe to watch their favourite esports teams and players compete for extravagant prize pools, while millions watch online remotely in their homes via livestreaming platforms like Twitch. Unlike conventional sports however, there is no inherent need for esports to take place in any particular physically-situated site like a stadium. The computerised nature of esports lends the practice a perceived placeless quality. No matter where an esports event is situated, be it in a stadium or networked across homes, the digital synthetic environments in which players’ avatars compete remain the same as objective constructs of code and graphical assets. If the perspective of watching esports is largely the same across different sites by virtue of its inherent mediation, then why is esports spectated beyond the comfort of the home? The aim of this thesis is to address this conundrum by exploring the experiences esports spectatorship in varying contexts. In particular, this thesis seeks to understand how experiences of esports spectatorship are influenced by and differ across various sites of spectatorship. This aim is achieved through an ethnographic methodology, where data is generated through embedded interactions and experiences with esports spectators at three distinct sites of esports spectatorship. Data generation methods including semi-structured interviews and various forms of participant observation are employed across the ethnographic fieldwork, while data analysis is largely conducted through reflexive thematic analysis and a thick description approach. Three studies are conducted, each looking at a separate site of esports spectatorship: the home, the stadium, and the esports bar. Study 1 focuses on the experiences of domestic esports spectatorship. The findings of the study demonstrate that in the mundanity of the home, domestic spectators perform laborious spectatorship to authenticate and make spectacular their experiences of spectating esports. It also demonstrates that despite a perceived sense of autonomy, domestic spectators commonly encounter numerous compromising factors in their homes which often prevents them from constructing an ideal spectating experience. i Study 2 focuses on experiences of and motivations for esports spectatorship in stadia. It reveals that spectators seek to affirm their expectations of authentic esports by attending events held in stadia, thus establishing notions of esporting authenticity. Besides seeking to partake in an authentic experience of esports spectatorship, those attending stadium-situated events seek to present themselves as authentic esports spectators. Aware of their status as props in the mediated spectacle of esports events broadcast to remote audiences, those spectating in stadia seek to present themselves in a perceived authentic manner to convince event organisers to host future esports events in Australia. Study 3 focuses on the experiences of spectating esports in an esports bar, representing a site of public communal spectatorship between the stadium and the home. Despite being a public place, the bar is in many ways more homely than the home. Void of many compromising factors commonly found in domestic environments, spectators at the esports bar are free to exercise a greater degree of autonomy over the construction of authentic esports spectatorship experiences. Taken together, the three studies reveal ways in which esports spectators construct authenticity in their experiences of spectatorship by creating a sense of placefulness. In doing so they establish a convention of esports authenticity for both those within and outside of the esports fandom. Different sites of spectatorship offer different tools, resources, and opportunities to construct experiences of esports spectatorship. Spectators choose accesible sites that best allow them to construct what they percieve an experience of esports spectatorship ought to be. ii Declaration This is to certify that: i. The thesis comprises only my original work towards the PhD except where indicated in the Preface. ii. Due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used. iii. The thesis is less than 100,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies, and appendices. David Cumming October 2020 iii Preface The work presented in this thesis was conducted under the careful supervision of Dr. Martin Gibbs and Dr. Wally Smith. The collection of data, data analysis, and presentation of findings were conducted by me in their entireity. Peer-reviewed publications featured in the thesis Throughout the course of research pertaining to this thesis, some of my work has been published in peer-reviewed publications. Some content in this thesis is directly adapted closely from these publications, in accordance with The Univeristy of Melbounre guidelines for a Thesis with Publication. Chapter 2 contains content adapted from the following extended abstract presented at the 2019 National Digital Games Research Association Australia Conference and published in its proceedings: Cumming, D., Gibbs, M., & Smith, W. (2019). Between places: spectatorship at an Australia esports bar. In Proceedings of DiGRAA 2019: What’s Next?, 4. As affirmed by my coauthors in Appendix F, I contributed 80% of the contet in this extended abstract, thus qualifying it for inclusion in a Thesis with Publication. Chapter 3, Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 contains content adapted from the following paper presented at the 2018 International Digital Games Research Association Conference and published in its proceedings: Cumming, D. (2018). Understanding the experience of Australian eSports spectatorship. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2018, 15. Funding acknowledgements Financial support for this thesis was supplied by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. Top-up scholarships were also received from the Melbourne Networked Society Institute at The University of Melbourne. iv Acknowledgements Across the years spent producing this thesis I have received advice, support, and encouragement from numerous people. Without their input, this thesis would not look the way it does today and for that I am tremendously grateful. Firstly, I would like to acknowledgement my ernomously patient and wise supervisory team of Martin Gibbs and Wally Smith. It was through their guidance that the set of loosely defined ideas and hypotheses I started with in 2016 were eventually transformed into the thesis laid out before you. Thank you, Martin and Wally, for working with me over these four years and steering my research in the right direction. Further thanks go out to my advisory committee chairs of past and present, Rachel Boshua and Antonette Mendoza, for providing an outsider’s perspective at my progress reviews. It would be a diservicve to not also acknowledge my PhD cohort friends for the helpful advice and insightful discussions we have shared throughout the years. In particular, our games and pop culture research group has been the sounding board that I have relied on to ensure that my thoughts and ideas actually make sense to other people. It is on this note that I would like to thank Jane Mavoa, Fraser Allison, Lucy Sparrow, Madeleine Antonellos, Brain McKitrick, Sophie Freeman and Josiah Lulham, for being a positive and encouraging presence throughout various stages of my doctoral candidature. I would also particularly like to thank Melissa Rogerson for cultivating this welcoming and inclusive community of games researches at the University of Melbourne. It is also important for me to broadly thank everyone at the Human-Computer Interaction group in the School of Computing and Information Systems that I have had to pleasure of being a part of. Having come from an undergraduate degree based in media studies, the group has played a fundamental role in introducing me to an entirely new field of research that I now consider myself a part of. v Special thanks to my partner Holly, who bravely volunteered to help proof-read this thesis. While you may have retracted your offer uponing seeing the size of the document, your support and kindess has helped me stay positive as I powered through draft after draft. Finally, I must thank Chui and Ian, my mother and father, for not only supporting me throughout my doctoral candidature, but also throuought my whole life. While I’m not certain you entirely understand what exactly it is I research, I am comforted by that fact that you are proud of me, regardless of the questionable life choices I make. vi List of figures and tables Figures Figure 1 An excerpt of my fieldnotes from Study 3, featuring written observations and a diagram of the GGEZ esports bar, detailing the esports being shown on each screen and the positions of patrons (top left). ................................ 95 Figure 2 A 'shoey' performed on camera at IEM Sydney 2017. ............................. 173 Figure 3 Comparison of the stages at the PUBG ZIMO Australia Invitations (left image, right half of stage)