Posts about:
Esports is getting much more attention now as a competitive platform in educational institutions, from K-12 to universities. Opening an esports facility for these initiatives is a complex process requiring much more work than just setting up several gaming machines in a computer lab.
ggCircuit was invited by the Association of College Unions International to host a webinar to discuss university esports venues. We talked about the important things needed for a university to consider before opening an esports facility, esports technologies, and more.
The esports industry has been growing steadily for the past couple of decades due to the rise in the popularity of online multiplayer games. In addition, universities saw that many students are interested in competitive gaming. This led to the introduction of varsity esports programs and the construction of esports arenas and facilities within campuses.
The rise of esports has led a significant number of colleges and K-12 schools to adopt online gaming as part of their extracurricular activities and programs. While not yet widely accepted as traditional sports, competitive video games are slowly being integrated into schools.
Boise State University is among the hundreds of colleges and universities that recognize esports as an officially sanctioned varsity activity. The Boise State esports program is relatively young but has since gone on to make exciting developments for the institution.
Ohio State University is one of the leading public universities pioneering an educational movement in the esports industry. In today’s digital age, champions are no longer made solely from traditional sports — the digital playgrounds are a prime place to find talent and skill.
For those who are looking to get started in the world of esports, the University of California Irvine offers a wide range of collegiate esports, where competitors will enjoy duking it out at their esports arena. The UC Irvine college campus has one of the biggest collegiate esports programs in North America, where players, developers, and gaming enthusiasts flourish in every genre.
Butler University, a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the most recent schools in North America to take up esports, with its new innovative esports facility opening to the public Fall of 2022. Butler's new esports park should allow the University to connect with the Greater Midwest regional competitions right from Indy.
With a lot of growth and a vast amount of money on the line, esports offers a bright future for gamers and competitive video game enthusiasts.
In the summer of 2016, ggCircuit received a phone call. The introductory line utilized was, "I hear you're building management software." This call was from Jesse Wang, then the leader of the UC Irvine Esports club. While ggLeap was in its extreme alpha phases but was rapidly being adopted through a grassroots movement, this was met with "Yes, how can we help?". At that time UC Irvine was working on becoming the first public university to have a dedicated esports arena. They had tried out the competition and didn't feel those programs met the heightened security of the UC Irvine campus network.