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Charlie Smith

Lecturer in Esports

Phone
+44 (0)1473 339091
Email
c.smith18abde@uos.ac.uk
School/Directorate
School of Business, Arts, Social Sciences and Technology
Charlie Smith ORCID
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Dr Charlie Smith is a Lecturer in Esports and the Course Leader for the BA (Hons) Esports undergraduate degree, having worked on esports courses and modules involving broadcasting, event management, psychology, and sport science since 2019. He received his PhD in Creative Technologies from the University of Portsmouth in 2026, having obtained a First Class BSc (Hons) in Computer Games Technology in 2019 and a distinction for his Master's degree in Creative Technologies in 2020.  He also is a member of the School of BASST Ethics Committee.

Alongside his academic career, Charlie has nearly a decade of experience in the esports industry working on events and productions of varying scale, with partners ranging from Insomnia Gaming Festival to ESL FACEIT Group and DreamHack. His continuing practice has led him to run events around the world which he uses to shape his curriculum.

Alongside being Course Leader for BA (Hons) Esports, Charlie is the module leader for:

  • Introduction to Esports (L4)
  • Business of Esports (L5)
  • Esports Leadership and Team Dynamics (L5)

Since 2026, Charlie has held the role of External Examiner for undergraduate esports programmes at the University of Staffordshire.

Charlie's research interests focus on the mechanisms of expertise and decision-making in games, with a focus on professional esports. He has experience in several qualitative research methodologies commonly used in games research as well as alternative methods including Notational Analysis and Cognitive Task Analysis. His recent PhD focused on the relationship between in-game knowledge, decision-making, and expertise.

 

Recent Publications:

Smith, C. (2026). The Role of Contextual Game Knowledge in Decision-Making within Esports [Doctoral thesis, University of Portsmouth]. Portsmouth Research Portal. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/the-role-of-contextual-game-knowledge-in-decision-making-within-e/

Smith, C.; Ramezani, A.; Edeagu, S.; Wright, C.; Ongus, C.; Pearce, R.; Turner, J.; Davis, A.; Ashley, S.; Ingres, E.; Langston, A.; Marrinan, M.; Leighton, S.; Volkert, A.; Thangadurai, H.; and Mattis, L. (2025). Knocking Down Walls: Embedding Inclusion into Real-World Learning Environments. Journal of Block and Intensive Learning and Teaching. 3(2). p. 47

Smith, C., Howell, P., Stevens, B., & Navarro, M. (2025). Expert Video Game Domain Knowledge and Decision Making: Applying the Critical Decision Method to Team Fortress 2 Players. Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports, 3(1), https://doi.org/10.1123/jege.2024-0047

Conferences

Smith, C., Howell, P., Navarro, M. & Stevens, B. (2026). Tracing Expert Knowledge and Decision-Making in Gameplay: A Hand-Based Notational Analysis. Esports Research Network Conference, 17 September 2026, University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Smith, C., Howell, P., Stevens, B., & Navarro, M. (2024). Expert Video Game Domain Knowledge and Decision Making: Applying the Critical Decision Method to Team Fortress 2 Players. Esports Research Network Conference, 31 October 2024, University of Staffordshire London, UK.

Member of the Esports Research Network

Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA)