Are you dominating your NBA 2K or Madden league? Is your K/D ratio on Call of Duty way over 2:1? If any of these things are true, then perhaps you are good enough to qualify for a video game scholarship at the University of California Irvine. No, I’m not high, this actually exists. The University of California Irvine has launched an eSports program and they are currently recruiting students on partial scholarships for the schools eSports program.
Here are more details from Business Insider:
The University of California-Irvine is recruiting students on partial scholarships dedicated solely to video gaming. And with the upcoming grand opening of its eSports arena on campus, the school has become a “Mecca for gamers,” according to Mark Deppe.
As the acting director of UCI eSports, Deppe is the brains behind the university’s new eSports facility.
Deppe has transformed the former campus pool hall into a state-of-the-art gaming arena that’s set to open on September 23. The gaming arena will host regular student gamers as well as the school’s 10-player team, which will compete in tournaments that include millions of dollars in prize money.
UCI offers a degree program in Computer Game Science and has a huge gaming community. Most of the players being recruited are experts in the one of the most popular PC video games in the world, League of Legends, but the new center will support console gaming as well. Players that are recruited will form competitive teams that will compete in games such as Counter Strike, Overwatch, Diablo 3 and Dota 2, using some of the world’s most advanced computers and equipment. Teams will even have a coach and compete in tournaments with millions of dollars up for grabs.
eSports has been rising in popularity over the last few years and the fact the colleges are beginning to recruit talent signals a new plateau for the genre. So the next time your parents or significant-other tells you that gaming is a waste of time, point them to the University of California Irvine and tell them don’t kill your dreams.
Scroll down the page for photos of the UCI gaming center.
