Communications of the ACM
Uci to Launch First-of-its-Kind Official E-Sports Initiative in the Fall
The University of California, Irvine is preparing to launch an e-sports initiative.
Credit: The Association of Gamers at UCI
The University of California, Irvine (UCI) is launching an official e-sports initiative this fall, which it says is the first of its kind for a public research university.
UCI eSports includes a state-of-the-art arena equipped with high-end gaming PCs, a stage for League of Legends competitions, and a live webcasting studio. In addition, as many as 10 academic scholarships will be offered to the students on the team.
"We hope to attract the best gamers from around the world, and our academic programs in computer gaming science, digital arts, computer science, engineering, anthropology, law, medicine, neuroscience, and behavior create a strong foundation for research and inquiry related to gaming," says UCI's Thomas Parham. He notes the gaming center will give non-team students a chance to participate in leisure activities on campus while balancing academic and research endeavors.
A recent survey of UCI students found 72 percent identify as gamers and 89 percent support the creation of an e-sports team.
UCI's Institute for Virtual Environments & Computer Games facilitates multidisciplinary research projects in the fields of anthropology, art, computer science, engineering, history, medicine, psychology, science, and technology.
"The eSports team and the arena will ensure that UCI continues to be a leader and trendsetter in collegiate e-sports," says UCI Association of Gamers president Jesse Wang.
From UCI News
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