Missouri State University levels up with reopening game center, esports expansion
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Missouri State reopened its gaming center and anyone can play, not just college students.
When you enter Level 1 Game Center at Plaster Student Union, a line of monitors display various games that people are playing using personal computers, otherwise referred to as PCs.
Spectator seating is arranged so viewers can catch the latest play as gamers compete. Farther inside the room, foosball, ping pong and three Nintendo Switches are also in use by players.
MSU, along with other schools like Drury University and Ozarks Technical Community College, are competing for top spots with the National Association of Collegiate Esports. The association's video games include big titles, such as League of Legends, Rocket League, Overwatch and more.
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The Level 1 Game Center offers its esport varsity and junior varsity teams 12 PCs to participate in tournaments throughout the school year as well as continuously upping their own skills, said MSU esports coordinator Trevor Long.
"It's run just like normal sports," Long said, with MSU esports having some sort of match Monday through Wednesday every week. Summer time may see opportunities for boot camps to help younger gamers, he added.
The game center and its equipment isn't just for MSU students, Long said. Members of the public can pay by the hour for $5 and play. Level 1 Game Center is open from noon to 11 p.m. seven days a week.
Esports bring competition and community together
Sophomore Phoenix Bay was taken by surprise when she transferred to MSU and found out she could continue playing her favorite game with the esports teams.
Valorant, a first-person shooter developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows, offers diversity with each character, from nationality to gender, and Bay enjoys playing on the team.
"It's about the fun fire abilities that you don't get in real life," Bay said. "It's about the cool lightning or energy abilities that you can get so it takes it out of a real world and puts it into almost like a fantasy type."
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Bay, who played while first attending Drury University, started gaming at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn't drifted from the game since.
"I did not expect there to be this much support for esports because it's something that I feel is often overlooked by actual physical sports," Bay said as the room was filled with dozens of folks attending the reopening Tuesday. "It's exciting to see that people are interested in this and willing to put this much money into it for their students specifically."
Scholarship opportunities are planned down the line, which Bay said is a plus, but the main reason is to have fun while playing at a competitive level.
"I play because I make some of my greatest friends out of it, which sounds really cheesy, but it is true," Bay said. "It is really nice to be able to connect with people that you have never met before and then, by the end of the day or the end of the game, go out and get a dinner or go out and get milkshakes. It's about the team bonding as much as it's about the gaming for me, at least."
Esports is just one more way to find community, Long said.
"There's a lot of people that never really find their social groups, especially in a place that's as big as Missouri State," Long said. "This provides an avenue for a lot of gamers."
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Although there are some social stigmas surrounding gaming, especially in the '80s, '90s and on, Long said it's becoming more socially acceptable to play.
"A lot of this new generation are enjoying playing games together, enjoying sharing these experiences," Long said.
Opportunities to learn soft skills like communication, problem-solving and more are built as gamers dedicate their time, Long said.
"It's not easy to be at the highest level, so that teaches a lot of those skills, too, that you wouldn't get other places," he shared.
'Being able to compete in person is much more exhilarating...'
Roman Thomas is in his senior year as a geology major at MSU, but this week brought its own milestone.
As the esports club president, Thomas shared with the crowd how a group of MSU students wanted to play League of Legends and formed their own team about six years ago. The exact date they were declared an esports club is a bit ambiguous, but Thomas said it happened at least by 2017 or 2018.
The game center was a small space on a different level of Plaster Student Union with only a few PCs for people to actually game with. There were talks of expanding the space; however, the pandemic slowed any changes as money belts were tightened, Thomas said. Finally, talks turned to action and the space was completed.
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"Being able to compete in person is much more exhilarating than competing online from your own homes," Thomas said. "When you score a goal or win a game, you can just turn to your opponent and just fist-bump them and get that sense of community with your team."
Thomas usually plays Rocket League and occasionally logs in to League of Legends and others. He continued the same message previously stated by others that this environment brings a community together.
"It's the same as any other sport hobby you'll have, where you have your teammates and your friends that play with you and you know how they play, you know what to do, like in football," Thomas said. "Having a sense of community, being able to work together in person in a really comfortable environment is what I believe is what it's all about."
Learn more about Level 1 Game Center and the MSU esports club by following:
Sara Karnes is an Outdoors Reporter with the Springfield News-Leader. Follow along with her adventures on Twitter and Instagram @Sara_Karnes. Got a story to tell? Email her at skarnes@springfi.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State reopens game center with esports expansion
