Level up: SE adds eSports venue to Towers

Southeast Missouri State University is set to level up its students' competitive video gaming experience next semester with a 1,500-square-feet eSports venue in the Towers Complex dormitory on campus.

Renovation of the space, now a computer lab, won't begin until after final exam week, Southeast spokeswoman Ann Hayes said by email Wednesday.

The Towers Computer Lab will move down the hall to Towers 110.

For the plan to work, Bruce Skinner, associate vice president for student life, said the space had to be an existing location and one accessible to students at all times.

And once you go around-the-clock, he said, a residence hall is the best location. Towers has the largest concentration of residence hall students, Skinner said. It's also on the tour route for our perspective students and families, Skinner said, adding it's still accessible to commuters.

"What we are doing is borrowing from the best things we've seen," he said of the plan to include 12 personal computers, an area dedicated to console gaming -- Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo -- and a 70-inch wall-mounted television.

Nip Kelly Construction is the contractor for the project.

If you want to have an actual gaming competition between teams, Skinner said, 12 machines are required.

A 70-inch television is required for games such as the popular League of Legends game, he said.

"When you're playing 6-on-6, that 70-inch television can show you a bird's-eye view of the actual game in progress, much like people do when they watch online," he said. "If you're a gamer, you don't want five people standing over your shoulder."

Skinner said he's seen some examples of schools that don't have gaming consoles and, "well, that's a problem if you're going to do FIFA, Madden or Smash Bros, so we're making sure there are gaming consoles."

There also will be lounge space, he said, with tables for homework or other activities.

With every station fully occupied, including the lounge area, capacity for the eSports venue tops out at around 40 people, Skinner said.

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

In the early stages of the project, the eSports Club passionately gravitated toward the idea, Skinner said, offering tips and suggestions.

The eSports venue does have an upfront cost, he said, but has almost no operating cost.

In April, Skinner and his staff worked with student government to help identify student activity funds to support the project, he said.

He said those students voted unanimously to use dollars otherwise earmarked for student programming or club sports.

Skinner said he'd much rather students get to know each other and spend time in the eSports venue meeting other students "than be alone in the 12th floor of some building and only know someone virtually."

"Students are already playing these games," he said. "What we're doing now is giving them a chance to play competitively and helping them connect with other students, which for a university, getting students connected with each other is important for retention."

jhartwig@semissourian.com

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