Max Sjöblom wins the Finnish gaming industry’s thesis competition
Max Sjöblom won the university batch in the thesis competition arranged by the Finnish gaming industry with his work “Watching others play: a uses and gratifications approach to video game streaming motives”.
The thesis studies game audiences and the motivation behind watching e-sports.
'Even though these games are far from traditional sports, the reasons for watching them are largely the same. In our research, spectators particularly appreciated the skill of players and the sense of drama. Despite the fact that video games are often considered violent, our results indicate that, on the contrary, spectators do not perceive eSports as an aggressive form of media, even though the experienced aggression of eSports positively correlates with spectating frequency', Sjöblom explains.
'The thesis has a very current topic and the subject is viewed in diverse ways', says the president of the award committee, Assistant Professor Olli Sotamaa from the University of Tampere.
Read more:
Read more news
School of Science Alumnus of the Year Matti Aksela: it’s always worth learning something new
Aksela mentors international students through the Aalto International Talent programme and hopes to see even greater diversity in the technology sector.
School of Electrical Engineering Alum of the Year 2025 Ville Voipio shares his insights on the importance of adaptability
Three themes guide Ville Voipio's career: digitalisation, sustainability and economic well-being. He received the Alum of the Year award at the Alumni Weekend event on 25 October 2025.
From polymer technology to international research centres – Chemical engineering alum of the year Petri Lehmus
Petri Lehmus, Vice President of Research and Development at Neste Corporation, has been named alum of the year by the School of Chemical Engineering. Throughout his career, he has led international research centres, built the success story of Neste’s renewable business and advanced chemical engineering research and education at Aalto University.