The purpose of this group is to study the different ways that people watch other people play videogames. We will meet once a month throughout the year, focusing on a different game each month. The group is most interested in the spectating of high-level players in deep multiplayer games with a prior history of supporting professional players, but other spectating habits (such as the casual viewing of friends and strangers on TwitchTV) will also be explored. Members of this group will learn a few different things about spectatorship and sport, comparing contemporary videogame play with traditional sport while addressing issues of professional spectators, community-fluency, technological features of spectatorship, and the cultures of professional gaming.
