Augusta University Creates New Space For Students By Opening Esports Arena

Some students like to swim. Some students enjoy playing tennis. And then there are some who like to play video games! When someone is good at a sport, like basketball, and they enjoy it, what is something they are most likely to do? Join the basketball team!

Now students who are good at games, like Rocket League, can join a team!

Many colleges and universities across the nation have created a community for Esports on campus, and now Augusta University will be joining those schools.

Augusta University celebrated the grand opening of its new Esports Arena on Monday evening, October 23. The arena is located in the Georgia Cyber Innovation and Training Center.

Esports is short for electronic sports, which is an organized competitive video gaming environment. It involves teams competing against each other during tournaments for cash prizes.

It's not much different when it comes to having Esports on a collegiate level. Students can play these various games and tournaments, while they earn degrees and even scholarships through gaming.

The arena has 16 computers to play popular video games like Mario Kart. The arena also came with new headphones and monitors.

The AU Esports team is nothing new to the school, just the area, and now they have a place where people that enjoy gaming can all come together and play.

This is also a great outlet for kids who may not be as social to find a space where they are comfortable enough to socialize, build relationships, and still be competitive in a healthy manner.

AU’s Esports team will compete in the Peach Belt Conference championship at Kennesaw State University on October 28. The Jaguars were founding members of the Peach Belt Conference in 2018. They will be competing in the Champions division of Rocket League for the PBC.

There is a place for the people that love reading books, there is a place for people that love playing pool, but what about the people that love games? Well, we might know a place or two. We're calling all gamers to learn about these gaming centers in the CSRA.

A gaming center is a place where people can come together to create a community, play games, and have tournaments. Esports and LAN gaming has been growing a lot. For example, colleges offer Esports scholarships, and some of those colleges even have gaming labs. High schools have implemented Esports as an elective. There are even pro teams that are created in the gaming world that compete for millions in cash prizes. In the US there are over 650 gaming centers, and the CSRA is a part of that growing number.

Fortnite, 2k, Mortal Combat, you name it – gaming developers are continuing to create new projects which will keep these game rooms around for a while. These gaming rooms consist of PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Virtual reality, retro games, and arcades.

Check out these gaming centers in the CSRA.

This video gaming center is located in Grovetown where they offer a mix of new games and old games. There is a flat fee to to play the games. To learn more, click here.

This facility is located in Augusta, Ga. They specialize in youth competitive Esports, where they can life skills while enjoying games. To Learn more, click here.

Experience a new world while in Aiken, South Carolina, with virtual reality. Learn more about the adventures you can take here.

For those that are military or military connected, Fort Gordon, Ga even has a gaming room. There are individual gaming consoles for gamers to play or watch movies. Learn more here.

Do you collect or play Pokémon trading card games? Well this is the spot for you. This game center located in Evans, Ga is little different form the others mentioned. This location specializes in tabletop gaming. To learn more click here.