Key Partner
About the Event
Recordings
DELF

The APRU MetaGame Conference seeks to incorporate the full ecosystem of Esports, from gamers to industry partners and from government leaders to students – we are seeking to expand the purview of Esports.

The second APRU MetaGame Conference will focus on Hong Kong as an emerging Esports leader in the region and examines the ways that an international network of Esports leaders can further its scope within universities from Esports as digital entertainment to developing career pathways for students in the Esports ecosystem.

The APRU MetaGame Conference will take place within a broader convening titled the Digital Entertainment Leadership Forum hosted at Cyberport in Hong Kong on 10-11 December, 2021. Visit their website for more information and to register: https://delf.cyberport.hk/en/index.

Attend the APRU Metagame Conference to:

  • Engage in discussion with leaders in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific to discuss digital skills of the future and universities’ role in preparing the next generation of innovators and changemakers.
  • Learn from experts about how Esports can offer pathways to careers in engineering, education, youth development, etc.
  • Vote for the winner of the Student Paper Competition, a student paper competition seeks to inspire students in the study of esports.
  • Support your favorite university in the Show Match and Tournament – A League of Legends Wild Rift show match will kick-off regional tournaments in North America and Asia.

Date & Time: 
December 10, 2021 5PM – 8:30PM (Los Angeles / Vancourver)
December 11, 2021 9AM – 12:30PM (Hong Kong / Singapore)
Check your local time

A certificate of participation is provided for attendees who participate in at least 60 mins of the MetaGame Conference via ZOOM or in-person participation.

APRU Student Esports Paper Competition and Awards 2021

APRU Collegiate Regionals Tournament

Past Conference:
MetaGame Conference 2020

Enquiries: Anya Wong ([email protected])

Revisit the panel recordings on YouTube:

Revisit the student paper competition presentation on YouTube:

Photos on Flickr

Riding on the blockbuster year for the gaming and esports industry from the global lockdowns, the industry is set to take over the entertainment world in the post-COVID era. DELF2021 will return to decode how the technologies, business models and value chain of digital entertainment will disrupt and advance beyond existing standards, in terms of distribution, experience, sports, creativity, content, capitalisation, speed and many more.

For the first time, DELF2021 will present the Infinity Games that challenge you to a series of exhilarating games themed with the Sea, Land and Air elements. What’s more, DELF will stage an array of tournaments, show matches, innovator showcase, game experiences, workshops, performances as well as pitching – all presented in an innovative hybrid experience that allows industry players and enthusiasts alike to feel the excitement live in Hong Kong as well as virtually at any time, from anywhere!

DELF will also present a month-long DE*Spark boasting various mind-blowing esports and gaming events. Join us to experience the new dimension of digital entertainment and esports beyond limits!

Venue

Transportation (Click here to open Google Map to Cyberport)

Get Inside Cyberport

DELF 2020

More information about DELF at https://delf.cyberport.hk/en/index.

Speakers
Mr. Sherman S. CHENG
Chief Financial Officer, APRU Secretariat

Sherman Cheng joins APRU with a background of over 20 years in commercial experience spanning across US and Hong Kong in roles ranging from financial consultant to senior financial controller. A graduate from UC Berkeley in Economics, Sherman also holds a Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara University and a Juris Doctor from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. As a qualified accountant, Sherman takes charge of APRU’s business processes, financial control, HR and work flow management.

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Mr. Peter YAN King-shun, JP
CEO, Cyberport

Mr Yan is an industry leader with more than35 years of experience in the information technology industry. As the CEO of Cyberport, Mr Yan leads the digital technology flagship focusing on talent cultivation, industry development, and the integration of new and traditional economies. Prior to joining Cyberport, Mr Yan was the Executive Director and CEO of SUNeVision and had held various senior management positions in large consulting and IT services companies including Accenture, Tradelink and Computer and Technologies.

 

Mr Yan has been active in public services, serving as a member of the Council of the City University and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University. He is also a member of the Human Capital Committee of Financial Services Development Council, a member of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, and various industry or professional organisations in the I&T sector. He is a life-time fellow of the Hong Kong Computer Society.

 

Mr Yan holds a BBA Degree from CUHK and was conferred the Honoree of the Year by the CUHK Chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma in 2020. He also received Executive Education from the Harvard Business School.

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Mr. Sam Barratt
Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit, Ecosystems Division, The United Nations Environment Programme

Sam Barratt is Chief of the Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit in UNEP’s Ecosystems Division and Co-Chair of the UN Higher Education Sustainability Initiative (HESI). At UNEP, he founded the Playing for the Planet Alliance, a collaboration with the video gaming industry to nudge gamers’ behaviour and for the industry to use cleaner energy, launched Earth School with TED-Ed and oversees the work of UNEP’s Youth and Education Alliance (YEA!) with networks representing over 2,700 universities from around the world. He also manages the non-formal education programme work with the Girl Guides and World Scout Movement which has seen the launch of the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge Badge programme and a new Earth Tribe initiative on environmental education.

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Prof. Patrick Williams
Associate Professor of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Patrick Williams (PhD) is Associate Professor of Sociology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. His primary areas of research are culture and identity, wherein he splits his time between the study of subcultural identity and authenticity on the one hand, and game-related experiences and identities on the other. Among his many publications, he has authored and edited several books on culture, identity and/or games, including Gaming as Culture: Essays in Social Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games(2006), Subcultural Theory: Traditions and Concepts(2011), and Studies on the Social Construction of Identity and Authenticity (2020). His current research focuses on the significance of DIY culture and identity in the growth of esports in Singapore.

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Dr. Baro Hyun
Director, Digital Content Advisory, TMT, KPMG Consulting Japan

Dr. Hyun is the founder of an unprecedented Esports advisory practice at KPMG Consulting, Japan. Formerly an aerospace/automotive engineer (PhD in Aerospace Engineering, University of Michigan ‘11), Hyun’s experience growing up in South Korea, the birthplace of esports business, has been central to his success with the advisory business, which has a pool of major clients including the Japanese government. Now he is the sector lead of the Media and Gaming industry at KPMG Consulting.

 

Hyun has been teaching Esports business at Keio University since 2018, and he has frequently appeared in major media outlets such as The Nikkei, the world’s largest financial newspaper. He was the editorial supervisor for the acclaimed book A Primer on Esports Business (まる わかり!eスポーツ・ビジネス), published by Nikkei Mook, and a serial contributor for major Japanese business media outlets such as The Nikkei, Nikkei Business Daily, and Diamond Online. He has been invited to speak on international esports/gaming business by The Nikkei, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Japan Esports Union, The Legal 500, MIT Horizon, and CBS Radio. He has also authored an Amazon- bestselling book entitled Demystifying Esports: A Personal Guide to the History and Future of Competitive Gaming.

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Mr. Nyle Sky Kauweloa
PhD candidate and Head of the UH Esports Academic Task Force, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Nyle Sky Kauweloa is a PhD candidate at the University of Hawaii’s Communication and Information Sciences program. Broadly, his research interests are at the intersection of technology, society, and gaming. His dissertation work is an ethnographic study of the still-emerging scene of college esports in the United States, which included his doing fieldwork at the University of California, Irvine. His most recent writing on esports is a book chapter (“The Emergence of College Esports in North America”) for Global esports: Transformation of Cultural Perceptions of Competitive Gaming (2021). Outside of research, Mr. Kauweloa serves on the board of the Electronic Gaming Federation (a collection of 40 Division-1 colleges with esports programmatic investments), and the newly launched VOICE, a non-profit of college esports leadership in higher education.

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Mr. Timothy SHEN
Founder and Investor, Yesports Media Limited

Mr. Timothy Shen is the Founder and Investor of Yesports Media Limited. Yesports headquartered in HK, is a global group for the development of sports (especially esports), technology (especially AI) and related talents/ professionals career development and management.

 

Yesports provides a global “esports +” social media hub showcasing talents from around the world, encouraging talents to share their gaming experience and unleash their talent, and providing a network for connecting to the corporates, media and sponsors for sponsorships, media exposure and marketing synergies. Yesports has held over 300 online and offline events globally covering 50 plus countries and markets, with 100+million social media impressions, and 600million viewership reach. Latest series of events including the GIRLS’ POWER ESPORTS TOURNAMENT which is the embodiment of the women rights to improve their career development, YESPORTS SUMMER INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL MUSIC FIESTA, YESPORTS DANCE BATTLE, hosted throughout the lockdown of various countries in the past year, have already achieved an average of 15 million+ online reach audiences.

 

In addition, Mr. Shen is the Chairman of Huge Famous Group and Safari Asia Limited. He has over 20 years of extensive experience in the accounting, corporate finance, investments, M&A and restructuring advisory areas with companies such as Merrill Lynch, and he also served as the management of listed companies in London and Hong Kong markets.

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Prof. Yupei Zhao
College of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University

Dr Yupei Zhao (PhD in University of Leicester, UK) is an “Hundred Talent Program Young Professor” and doctorial tutor in college of Media and International Culture in Zhejiang University. She is currently vice chair-elected of International Communication Association Popular Media and Culture Division, vice dean of Chinese Society for Science and Technology Jounalism in Game and eSports Communication Research Professionals. Co-founder of UK-China Media and Communication Association. Before joining ZJU, she was working as a senior research associate in school of Communciation and Design in Sun Yat-sen University. Meanwhile, Yupei Zhao has been invited as senior researcher in Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies, China Policy institute at University of Nottingham (UK), and the Eurasian Sport Industry at Emlyon’s Shanghai Campus, visiting professor in Xi’an-Liverpool University and Beijing Institute of Technology.

 

Her research interests widely includes mixed-methods use to examine digital culture and platformalization, global communication, media culture and industry. Particurly, she pays more attentions on eSports culture and industry, digital music and culture, fandom culture, media and platformalization. She has a PhD and MA focusing on Political Communication and New Media in University of Leicester (UK) since 2010 to 2016. Thus far, she is PI for twelve research funding projects, and her research has appeared in International Journal of Cultural Studies, Journal of Cultural Economy, International Journal of Communication, Social Science Quarterly, Sage Open, Social media + Society, Media International Australia, popular music and society etc. She got “The Best Paper” Paper Award in both 2020 and 2019 International Communication Association Popular Media and Culture Division, and 2019 European Association for Sport Management.

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Ir. Eric Chan
Chief Public Mission Officer, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited

Ir. Chan is in charge of building the start-up ecosystem at Cyberport from inspiring the next generation, throughnnurturing the entrepreneurial spirit, to empowering global ambition, by providing comprehensive entrepreneurship programmes, funding support and partnership networks.

 

Ir. Chan has over 30 years’ experience in the ICT and technology industry, a chartered engineer, a chartered marketer and a Fellow of Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK). Prior to joining Cyberport, Chan had held various senior positions in global telecom and IT services companies. Ir. Chan has been active in public services including education, industrial training, professional bodies and charitable organisations, and is currently Chairman of Knowledge Management Development Center.

 

Ir. Chan holds a BSc. (Hon) degree in Engineering from University of London, a Master degree in Business Administration from Manchester Business School, and received Senior Executive Education from INSEAD (France) and IESE (Spain) business schools.

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Prof. Peichi CHUNG
Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Prof Peichi Chung received her Ph.D. from the Department of Telecommunication, Indiana University-Bloomington. Her teaching and research interests include new media and digital culture. In her teaching, she focuses on new development in media cultural studies. She examines issues related to new media production and cultural policy in sub-regional locations within Asia. Her research focuses on media industry analysis at both corporation and government levels. Along with her previous projects, her current works include cultural preservation of Hong Kong in video game. Her co-edited book, Media Technologies for Work and Place in East Asia: Critical Perspectives toward Japan and the Two Koreas, was published by Bristol University Press in 2021.

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Ms. Maike Gericke
Co-Founder & CEO at Tiramisu, Scrypt

Author of, “The rise of the wildlife gamer: How game experiences can influence the future of conservation interest” report.

 

Maike Gericke is Co-Founder of innovation studio Scrypt and Co-Founder and CEO Tiramisu, a “social network of kindness” that optimizes interactions for wellbeing and impact. She applies her lessons and insights from a decade of corporate and start-up work to create new impactful solutions at the intersection of technology innovation, human-centred design, and social/ environmental impact.

 

In a recent project with Internet of Elephants and the Luc Hoffmann Institute, she looked into the role that games and gamification can play in wildlife conservation, creating new insightsinto the market of wildlife-interested gamers.

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Prof. Jim HUNTLEY
Professor, USC Games Program, Faculty Advisor for USC Trojan Esports, University of Southern California

Jim Huntley is a Marketing and Brand Management Executive with over 25 years of experience leading teams across multiple industries. After graduating from Northwestern University’s Masters of Marketing Communications program, he joined General Mills where he managed marketing and promotions on Betty Crocker Products, Lucky Charms, and Cheerios. He followed that with a stint at Nestle before transitioning into the toy industry and spending 4 years at Mattel, working on brands as varied as Hot Wheels, Barbie, He-Man, Max Steel, and Justice League. His success on Barbie brought him to MGA to work as their VP of marketing on their Bratz line, then transitioned into video games by taking a role at THQ. In his almost 5 years there, he served as Marketing VP on their kids products (SpongeBob, Disney’s Cars, Wall-E), and T/M rated titles like MX vs ATV, Space Marine, Homefront, UFC 2010, WWE, and Darksiders 1 & 2. He most recently relaunched the SodaStream brand in the US with a business transforming TV spot that is now being used globally, and is currently consulting for a variety of companies in the toy, consumer products, and gaming industries. He is also a Professor in the USC Games program at the University of Southern California.

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Ms. Jackie Wong
Director Network and Student Programs, APRU Secretariat

Ms. Jackie Agnello Wong is the APRU Director, Network and Student Programs. With over 20 years of working in the higher education sector and policy, Wong is dedicated to informing international public policy making through education, research, and partnership. Prior to joining the APRU Secretariat, she launched the first-ever Global Master of Public Policy, a joint executive degree with The University of Hong Kong and the University of Southern California as the Director for Marketing and Recruitment. Prior to this role she served at the Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE) and the Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration (CSII), research centers at the University of Southern California. She has a Master of Public Administration from University of Southern California and holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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Contact
Us

Address: APRU International University Centre, Unit 902, Cyberport 2, 100 Cyberport Road, Hong Kong
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +852 2117 7060
Fax: +852 2117 7077

 

Enquiry
Program Schedule
December 11, 2021
9:00AM

Opening Ceremony

 

  • Mr. Sherman Cheng, Chief Financial Officer, APRU
  • Mr. Peter Yan, Chief Executive Officer, Hong Kong Cyberport
9:15 AM

Keynote Addresses

 

  • Mr. Sam Barratt, Chief of Youth, Education and Advocacy Unit, Ecosystems Division, the United Nations Environment Programme, Playing for the Planet Alliance
  • Prof Patrick Williams, Associate Professor of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
9:35 AM

Panel 1: Esports, Gaming, and Skills of the Future

 

Asia-Pacific economic, university, and industry leaders present their vision for preparing a generation of students ready for the workforce of tomorrow. The majority of esports players declare science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors when entering college, with 62% of League of Legends players in Riot Games leagues being STEM majors (Michael Sherman, Riot Games’ Director of Collegiate esports). A study conducted by UC Irvine shows that esports provides support for STEM fields through problem-solving, scientific methodology, using data and evidence and technological proficiency.

 

With the growth of esports in universities, APRU has supported the academic and non-academic activities related to competitive gaming that can train students with the skills needed to succeed in careers related to engineering, business, communications and computer design. The skills developed through esports allows students to enter their chosen field through multiple pathways. Through this discussion we seek to deepen our understanding of the future trends to watch with regard to the metaverse, blockchain, digital arts, the future workforce, and other emerging technologies? What types of training needs to occur in order to prepare students for digital society? What more needs to be done? What are the opportunities for esports to play a role?

 

Moderator

Mr. Ir Eric Chan, Chief Public Mission Officer, Hong Kong Cyberport

 

Speakers

  • Dr. Baro Hyun, Director, Digital Content Advisory, TMT, KPMG Consulting Japan
  • Mr. Nyle Sky Kuaweloa, Head of the UH
  • Esports Academic Task Force, University of Hawai’i
  • Mr. Tim Shen, Founder and Investor, Yesports Media Limited
  • Prof Yupei Zhao, College of Media and International Culture, Zhejiang University
10:35 AM

Panel 2: Gamification of Social Well-being

 

Games as digital entertainment have long been a part of the cultural fabric across continents, and as the gaming industry has evolved, so has its many applications. Games are being used in new and innovative ways to conquer social challenges. Consoles have used immersive technologies to inspire physical activity and combat obesity. The UNEP (Environmental Programme) has launched the Playing for the Planet initiative which encourages the video games industry to use the power of their platforms to take action on the climate crisis. These examples give us hope for a broader application of gaming in the esports ecosystem, with case studies from universities, esports experts, and leaders, we look at the various ways that games can address our social wellbeing.

 

Moderator

Ms. Jackie Wong, Director, Network and Student Programs, APRU

 

Speakers

  • Prof. Peichi Chung, Associate Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Prof. Jim Huntley, Professor & Head of Marketing, USC Games, Faculty Advisor, USC Trojan Esports, Executive Producer, USC Games Expo, Co-Founding Partner, Pac-U Gaming, University of Southern California
  • Ms. Maike Gericke, Co-Founder & CEO at Tiramisu, Scrypt
11:15 AM

Student Paper Competition Presentations

 

Top submissions of the APRU Student Esports Paper Competition are presented in three categories: Business Models for the Esports Industry, Esports for Social Good, and Health/Wellness in Esports.

12:00 PM

Show Match and Regional Tournament

 

A show match will kick off the Asia Pacific regional esports tournament with Nexten Esports. Teams will compete in League of Legends: Wild Rift. Two teams from North America and two teams from Asia will compete in a 5v5 show match.

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