There are now more than 170 colleges and universities across the United States that offer official Esports courses to students that have an interest in competitive computer gaming. These institutions support Esports as a full-time career. Washington State’s Esports community continues to grow stronger, and the two main educational institutes that currently offer Esports courses in the nation’s capital state are the DigiPen Institute of Technology in Richmond and the Centralia College in Centralia.
Here we will be taking a quick look at some of the reasons why Esports in Washington may be experiencing such growth.
What is helping Washington State’s Esports community grow stronger?
There are a number of reasons why Washington State’s Esports community continues to grow stronger, and one of the main reasons why is that Esports is now more mainstream than ever before. Since people have realized that competitive computer gaming can now be a full-time career, more and more people have enrolled, and this has led to the Esports community growing exponentially.
Although the community is still largely male-dominated, the atmosphere is changing as more females are getting involved and becoming professional Esports players, or they are getting involved in the industry in other ways, and a huge spotlight is now shining down on the community. The Esports community in Washington has been described in a number ofcontrasting ways.
In a positive light, for example, it has been described as energetic, open, and supportive to one another, but then in a less than positive light, an element of the Esports community has been described as unfriendly and intimidating by some critics, as narrow-minded and prejudiced by others, and, in some cases, even being described as aggressive.
Issues concerning male behavior in the Esports community as being openly derogative towards females have also been noted. However, there is an active effort to stamp out this kind of behavior within the community, and measures are being put in place to make Esports more inclusive. Some of the most notable authorities that are actively seeking to eliminate the negative sides within the community are the promoters of major events, as well as the educational institutions where it’s possible to study Esports, the platform providers, and even the game development studios that produce new games.
The Washington State Scholastic Esports Association’s five main values to help provide the best possible opportunities for all students to help them grow professionally, intellectually, emotionally, and socially through Esports include:
Equity
Integrity
Inclusion
Community
Education
Fun
What kind of tournament games are available to play within the Esports community?
The fall season of the number 1 Esports league in Washington is currently underway. The preseason started in the first week of October 2022, and the full season is scheduled to run for around six to eight weeks (depending on the total number of applicants that signed up for the league). The Rocket League event will be hosted every Tuesday. Every Wednesday, it’s the Valorant game event, and every Thursday, it’s the Smash Brothers game event. For students to register, they must visit the official WSSEA website. Also, before taking part in any of these events, players must read the rules.
How to watch Esports events
There are several ways in which a spectator can watch Esports leagues and tournaments as the action unfolds in the US and around the world. For example, US spectators can now watch a new TV show called Collegiate Esports Now via the linear Esports channel ESTV. The inaugural episode was officially aired as recently as October 7th, 2022, and it was hosted by two major Esports personalities, Katie Scott and Pauly’ Hype’ Santoro.
As well as being able to watch college Esports events on this new channel, it’s also possible to watch live episodes and replay previous episodes on the popular video game streaming site Twitch. Additionally, people have also been uploading clips of Esports events onto YouTube. Another way that you can view Esports events in real-time is via a growing number of fully licensed sports betting sites in their Esports betting sections.
Apart from Collegiate Esports, what other Esports leagues and tournaments are there?
Some of the other popular Esports tournaments and leagues that are regularly broadcast and live-streamed around the world that have a strong sense of community are the Overwatch League, the Call of Duty League, The International, the Global Championship, the EU League, and the World Championship.
Other notable Esports events that run at certain times throughout the year include the Elisa Invitational, the CCT North Europe Series, the CCT South Europe Series, and the CCT East Europe Series. There’s also the ESL Pro Championship, the ESL Polish Championship, the ESL Masters Spain, the LPL Pro League, the Gamers Club Liga Serie A, and the Intel Extreme Masters, to name just a handful.
What kind of games are played at these events?
It’s generally mmo and mmorpg games that are played at these events, and there can be individual players or teams of players competing. They all compete to win a share of huge cash prize pools, as well as trophies and other silverware, tournament ranking points, and more. Apart from the games mentioned above – Smash Brothers and Valorant, some of the other most common hit video games that are also now played at major Esports events around the world include:
CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Rainbow 6
Dota 2
Call of Duty
League of Legends
PUBG
Overwatch 2
Will Washington State’s Esports community continue to grow stronger?
Yes. It looks as though Washington State’s Esports community will continue to grow for the foreseeable future, based on current trends. The Esports industry is now a billion-dollar global industry, and it keeps on expanding. More colleges and universities will continue to offer Esports courses, which will also help grow the Esports community even stronger than it is now over the coming years.
The post Washington State’s Esports Community Continues to Grow Stronger appeared first on Enterprise Podcast Network – EPN.
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