Students New Student Space Devoted to Competitive Video Gaming Stories You May Like Student’s Playful Paintings Showcase the Hill as You’ve Never Seen It Student App Developers Enrich Life on Campus and Beyond Student-Run Food Magazine Celebrates a Festival of Flavors Located in Robert Purcell Community Center, the ‘esports’ lounge boasts state-of-the-art equipment and spots for hanging out This story has been condensed from a feature in the Cornell Chronicle. By Caitlin Hayes Thousands of students at Cornell find community by playing video games, with at least six student clubs dedicated to gaming. But until now, that community has not had a designated space to gather. This semester, Student and Campus Life (SCL) launched the Esports Gaming Lounge in Robert Purcell Community Center—creating a spot for students to play, watch, compete, and connect, and supporting the growing interest in esports (competitive multiplayer gaming). “Video games in general are really important for our generation,” says Chloe Chu ’24, vice president of the student group Esports at Cornell. “Older generations would get together to play board games with their friends, and it’s very similar, just through a different medium.” Students from the group were instrumental in helping SCL stock and design the lounge, which will include state-of-the-art gaming PCs; space with TVs and seating will allow students to livestream matches for watch parties. Open to all students for drop-in play, it can also be reserved for tournaments and events. Video games in general are really important for our generation. Chloe Chu ’24 Esports at Cornell serves as a community hub for students interested in competitive gaming. More than 1,300 members are part of the club’s channel on Discord, a social platform for communicating and connecting around gaming, with hundreds of students active on the channel at any given time. Stories You May Like Student’s Playful Paintings Showcase the Hill as You’ve Never Seen It Student App Developers Enrich Life on Campus and Beyond The club coordinates teams for numerous multiplayer games, with opportunities for varying levels of competition. Two of the teams, for the games Overwatch and Valorant, currently compete in tournaments run by the National Association for Collegiate Esports. All five players on the Overwatch team have earned the top “grandmaster” rank as individuals, with three players ranking in the top 100 on the global leaderboard. In addition to highly skilled or competitive players, the club is open to anyone interested in playing or watching team-based gaming. It hosts informal intramural tournaments as well as watch parties for the Cornell teams’ games, for tournament playoffs and finals, or professional games. “Esports, just like regular sports, fosters large communities,” says Esports at Cornell president Jake Qi ’23. “Playing the games and watching others play, learning how to get better at a game, all of these things really help form communities.” For Zachary Schecter ’23—whose family provided financial support to create the new lounge—esports provides opportunities for teamwork and skill, similar to a traditional sport. “It’s fun to plan out the fight, work together and see the plan come together,” he says. “We’re strategizing and making quick decisions, and it’s really satisfying to make a good play, to take out an enemy team or to play support and save your teammate just in time.” All photos by Sreang Hok / Cornell University. Published March 15, 2023 Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Alumni Alumna’s Galactic Quest Proved Existence of Dark Matter Campus & Beyond Hip Hop Collection Charts Early Days of a Cultural Phenomenon Storytime with Corey What’s the Most Iconic Cornell Tradition? Eight Contenders Remain!