Exploring Esports from the Perspectives of Multiple Stakeholders: Introduction to the Esports Minitrack Piotr Siuda Kazimierz Wielki University piotr.siuda@ukw.edu.pl David P. Hedlund St. John’s University hedlundd@stjohns.edu Lindsey E. Darvin Syracuse University ledarvin@syr.edu Emma Witkowski Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology emma.witkowski@rmit.edu.au Abstract The esports research field continues to evolve rapidly, encompassing various interdisciplinary perspectives. For HICSS-58, we sought high-quality research across various methodologies examining diverse aspects of esports. We received 15 manuscripts spanning multiple disciplines and perspectives, and six were selected for inclusion. The papers cover player behavior analysis, environmental sustainability, fan experience technologies, sponsorship integration, public perceptions of esports in major sporting events, and character preferences in competitive games. These studies contribute to understanding the complex esports ecosystem, its leaders, technological innovations, and player behaviors shaping its future. Keywords: electronic sports, esports, video games, player behavior, interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary. 1. Introduction Building on the success of the last two esports minitracks (Siuda et al., 2023; 2024), we are pleased to present another round of high-quality research exploring various facets of the rapidly growing esports industry at HICSS-58. The six accepted papers for this year’s minitrack exemplify this growth and continue to examine important quantitative and qualitative research questions on various topics (Jenny et al., 2024). 2. The 2025 Esports Minitrack For this year’s minitrack, six manuscripts were accepted for presentation and publication, with the first two papers focusing on business and environmental issues. In contrast, the last four papers examine individuals’ and groups’ perspectives. The themes thus explore esports from the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. The papers utilize a variety of research methodologies, including case studies, qualitative interviews, structural equation modeling, machine learning techniques, and thematic analysis. 3. HICSS-58 research review The first paper, Exploring Sponsor Integration and Networks in an Esports Competition: The Case of EA Sports' FIFA 23 Global Series (Burton), investigates the complex relationships between sponsors and esports properties. Using network analysis, the study’s authors examine the FIFA 23 Global Series sponsorship landscape, revealing unique integration and diversification patterns, or lack thereof, across traditional sports leagues and their esports counterparts. The findings highlight the potential for both synergies and differentiation between conventional sports and esports sponsorship programs. The second paper, Environmental Sustainability Efforts in Esports Organizations Toward Climate Action (Ojala, Hasanovic, Hasan), examines the growing importance of environmental responsibility within the esports industry. Through a qualitative case study of seven esports organizations and expert interviews, the authors explore efforts made by esports leaders to address climate change and promote sustainability. The study stresses the potential for esports organizations to leverage their influence and promote greater environmental responsibility while identifying challenges and opportunities within the industry. The third paper, Player Behavior Analysis for Predicting Player Identity Within Pairs in Esports Proceedings of the 58th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences | 2025 Page 4261 URI: https://hdl.handle.net/10125/109356 978-0-9981331-8-8 (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)