New Esports Arena at Ohio University Accessible to Everyone
By: Payton Brooker
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ATHENS, OHIO – Ohio University’s esports facility opened Sept. 19 after more than four years of construction and offers a way to introduce college students to the social power of video games.
The OHIO Esports Arena after four years of construction is complete and open to students on campus. Students can play at the facility either in a competitive platform or causally. The project has spent over a million dollars to give the experience to those with the interest of esports.
People can compete in multiple different competitions across the whole year for the Esports team in tournaments in games like Valorant, Overwatch, Rocket League, and League of Legends. The team competes in its own conference with other schools with similar programs apart of the Mid-American Conference. Major competitions for the Esports Club can also be viewed on Twitch on their own official channel.
Jeffery Kuhn, esports director, said esports at Ohio University could help people interact with each other in a comfortable environment and lead to potential careers.
“For our students, they interact in these environments, play in these environments, and eventually would want to work in these environments,” he said. “We have to push past that stigma of what video games are and video games being anti-social, but the fact is for our students, it turns out to be a highly social activity.”
The Esports Arena can be accessed from 2 to 10 p.m. every Monday through Saturday for students. They can play causally with friends. Students and guests can find the Esports arena inside of Scripps in the ground floor. Anyone can visit and play for free.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrp6ZUNOvyc