Gaming experts at the celebration will lead a discussion dubbed "An Evening of Esports with Estars."
Speakers will be David Lee, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Estars Studios, known for esports broadcast production and tournament organizing; and Maggie Jordan, competitive gamer and advocate of women in gaming.
Free and open to the public, the event is aimed at current Wilkes students and high school students looking to learn about esports.
With the fall semester, Wilkes will offer competition in four popular esports: Overwatch, a first-person shooter with team members selecting from a large roster of characters called "heroes"; League of Legends, with teams of champions facing off in a complex setting; Rocket League, sometimes described as turbo-charged soccer played in race cars; and Super Smash Bros., where team players pick characters from various video games and work to boot the opposing team players out of the stage.
Semantic police might quibble over calling fantasy computer play a sport, but there is no denying the explosive popularity of the competitive activity. Fortune Business Insights reports the market was valued at $1.22 billion 2021 and was projected to grow to $5.48 billion by 2029.
But participation isn't the only reason institutions of higher learning and high schools have been adding esports to student offerings. Being online and thus unrestricted by stadium or gym size, esports has proven capable of drawing large viewerships that can potentially generate big bucks.
Like other colleges and universities, Wilkes is using esports with an academic twist, housing it within the Digital Design and Media program. "Wilkes offers an esports team that leans on the knowledge and opportunities of career-focused majors and faculty experts in the arts, gaming and design fields," a media release noted. "It is open to students of all majors and interests."
The boom in esports coupled with the increase in competition makes this far more than a group of generic laptops on available desks. Specialized equipment from screen to seat is common, and Wilkes is no exception, setting up a dedicated, 1,100 square foot gaming center in the Simms Center on Main, including 10 terminals with LED uplighting, Spectrum Esports Evolution Tables and Spectrum ES Xpressions Chairs.
The tech includes
- Lenovo Legion T5 Core I7 2.1 GHz (gigahertz) — 32 GB (gigabyte) RAM (read only memory) and 1 TB (terabyte) hard drive.
- LG UltraGear 27" full high definition LED monitors
- Logitech Gaming G613 keyboard with lightspeed wireless technology
- Logitech Gaming G502 (hero) mouse with 11 customizable buttons
- Logitech G840 Xl gaming mouse pads
- Logitech G Pro headset, specifically designed for esports pros
Being for spectators as well as gamers, the center includes large-screen televisions for viewing the competitions and a Wall-Street-style ticker to broadcast real-time squares. Construction on the gaming center is set to begin this spring. more information is available at wilkes.edu/esports.
"Esports is just another example of how Wilkes University continues to offer incredible opportunities to students in and out of the classroom," Wilkes President Greg Cant said in the media release. "By leveraging the expertise of our academic programs and faculty members, and by hiring a dedicated staff that will lead our students to success, esports at Wilkes will soon become a major competitor in the gaming space."
©2023 The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
