Game on: SEMO introduces eSports Arena

Competitive gaming students at Southeast Missouri State University now have a place all their own — a 1,500-square-foot eSports Arena at Towers Complex dormitory.

Previously occupied by a computer lab, the space contains 12 liquid-cooled desktop computers equipped for gaming. It also features an area dedicated to Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo consoles coupled with a 70-inch wall-mounted television for a “bird’s-eye view.”

Bruce Skinner, associate vice president for student life, said a lounge also occupies the space for students who wish to complete homework or other activities.

Southeast Missouri State University freshman Spencer Hansberry, left, and sophomore Justin Clay, right, play “Overwatch” on Tuesday at eSports Arena in the Towers Complex dormitory in Cape Girardeau.Joshua Hartwig ~ jhartwig@semissourian.com

By email Tuesday, Skinner said the space was first open to students for “drop-in play” Sept. 3.

The venue did incur an upfront cost of roughly $120,000, he said, but students contributed nearly $50,000 of that through Student Government and other organizations. Skinner added the space has almost no operating cost.

“We’re able to do this without raising a fee or tacking on another charge,” he said. “There’s no cost to our students.”

Associate director of recreation services Eric Redinger oversees the campus’ eSports Club. He said League of Legends, FIFA, Madden and Smash Bros. are just a few of the multiplayer games that will occupy the multiple screens.

“We might be playing a team in Carbondale (Illinois),” he said, “and they’re in Carbondale playing us. The fans are watching from here. It’s cool because we can play head-to-head in the same room, or we can play virtual.”

Esports has become a trend at universities, Redinger said, adding he foresees Southeast’s eSports Club soon transforming into its own athletics department due to its different factions of games.

Redinger said he also plans to use the space for hosting high school competitions, “So high school students get exposed to [Southeast], they get exposed to esports and realize that is an option.”

Skinner said through making the esports venue a reality, the university is giving students the infrastructure “to do what they were sort of doing already.”

“This is a different kind of video-gaming experience,” he said. “We’ve found that students that are gamers tend to be also some of our better students academically.”

The idea for Southeast’s esports venue derived from student Brenden Leahy and a now-partnership between the campus’ eSport’s Club, Skinner said.

The eSports Arena will be a 24/7 operational space offering after-hours and late-night/early-morning access, according to the university.