Playing video games might sound like the most unlikely way to obtain a college scholarship, but an increasing number of students are doing just that: Scoring a college education because of their gaming skills.
Alabama State University added a new e-sports computer gaming center to the John Garrick Hardy Center. It is currently monitored by the Director of External Operations, Bennie Cooks. He works with marketing athletics and the ticket office. This new addition was inspired by an idea brought to university President Quinton T. Ross, Jr., Ed.D.
E-sports (the term used for competitive gaming), a major mainstream sport in China and Korea, has become more popular across the U.S. and Europe. Some estimate gaming will be a $2.67 billion industry by 2024, and a steady stream of universities are trying to tap into that market.
There are a lot of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that have developed their own gaming teams, and a friend of Cooks’ from the Black Collegiate Gaming Association (BCGA) pitched the idea to head football coach Eddie Robinson Jr., who went to Ross, who in turn gave oversight of the project to Cooks.
According to BCGA’s website, the purpose is to pivot Black college students into the overall gaming industry, not only as consumers, but as contributors. It strives to build up students that will be prepared to interview and become a part of the gaming industry both on the competitive and corporate levels. They want to aid in creating future groundbreakers.
The gaming room’s availability is still being worked out, but it will be open for business after hours.
“It’s gonna be in accordance with the regular game room, which is gonna be after hours,” Cooks said. “So we’ll say from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays. Perhaps on the weekends, it’ll be open from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. depending on whether there are any other activities such as basketball or football games at the same time. We’re flexible with the time at the moment.”
The e-sports gaming section will include a variety of games for students to enjoy. The prominent games included right now are League of Legends and Call of Duty. 2K Games will also be incorporated in the future.
“I’m not quite sure of the others,” Cooks said. “But I have a gentleman by the name of Mr. Thomas Free who I’m going to bring on. He’s going to be the coach/advisor for the gaming lab.”
2K Games will be the main games being brought in to be played. However, this might alienate those who don’t play sports-based games but who still want to play team-based games such as Mario Kart.
“When we get it off the ground, we’re gonna start from the roots,” Cooks said. “So, in other words, we’re going to assemble a team, but at the moment, we won’t be competing because there are other guidelines we have to follow to do that. So it’s gonna be for entertainment purposes first. So there may be some Nintendo games such as Pac-man and Mario Kart.”
Cooks is looking for a soft opening March 8 at 11 a.m.