BY: Evan Coyle

The rise in popularity in esports has not been ignored by Daemen College. The college has gotten out in front of the growing interest and embraced its presence in the current landscape of entertainment.

 

The visually appeasing game room was outfitted with gaming oriented chairs, striking wall designs and gaming compatible computers last semester.

 

Giving the label of “sport” to electronic based video games has been a contentious topic of debate.  The competitive set up of esports, where players can battle against opponents from other schools or locations is, one of the essential justifications for the fact that computer games like “League of Legends” falls under the title of esports.

 

“League of Legends” is a multiplayer online battle game.  Individual games take between 20 and 40 minutes, depending on when and if a player is forced to surrender.

 

Gaming enthusiast and Daemen student Justin Fang has taken advantage of the new amenity on campus. Justin says that he sits down in the game room and plays about “3 or 4 hours every week.”

 

Justin appreciates the new facility saying, that he is “glad the college decided to value Esports.”

 

Another student (anonymous) says, though he has not engaged in any esports games he thinks the room design is “neat and interesting.”

 

The Esports gaming club takes place on Fridays from 7 p.m to 11 .pm in the Wick Center Oddy Lounge.

 

Daemen College staff and students have indicated in recent news coverage that this is just the start of esports gaming at Daemen and competitive expansion efforts could be down the road.

 

Any students who are interested in participating in esports gaming are encouraged to visit the Oddy Lounge and get started on the fun.