Having a Gaming Ecosystem
Despite only having started in an official capacity recently, UAlbany had a massive advantage that not many other schools can replicate: a large and diverse student body of more than 17,500 that not only hail from within New York State but also all over the country and the globe.
Another factor that helped the program quickly get off the ground was that prior to UAlbany eSports formation, there had already existed an esports club, a Smash Bros. club, and a tabletop board game club known as The Guild.
According to Leczinsky, the school had a strong relationship with the clubs on campus and worked together to increase the opportunities for gamers on campus. “A rising tide raises all ships” he said.
When it came time to get organized, there was a great deal of excitement on campus.
“When we initially presented the proposal for this we anticipated approximately 30 to 60 students being involved. In the first two weeks of the announcement we had 175 students fill out the application. We’re currently at about 370 or so [applications]. The interest was tremendous. Our team is now over 100 students and we’re excited about the potential for future growth.”
The ECAC competes across eight games: Overwatch, League of Legends, Fortnite, Rocket League, Madden, FIFA, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and Hearthstone. UAlbany was able to field a team for each, which is not typical of most of the teams that compete in the ECAC.
The gaming ecosystem and enthusiasm for esports at UAlbany is very strong, and Leczinsky made it a point to note that on every point along the way of this journey, students were involved.
Student captains have assisted Leczinsky with scheduling games, developing practices, casting, event production, and helping to broadcast games to student dining halls and pubs.
Students even played a critical role in the construction of UAlbany eSport’s arena.
“When we built our arena, we had our student workers, captains, and our student volunteers unboxing the machines, setting them on the table, getting them logged on, downloading Overwatch, helping to program all the backlight features.
There are so many opportunities for students to help out and be a part of the journey whether that is as a paid job, a captain, a volunteer, an intern, through hands-on learning. My goal was to capture the enthusiasm and interest, and be a multiplier.”
Clearly, there was no shortage of students at UAlbany interested in pursuing a career in esports, but in order for the program to grow and thrive, it also needed the buy-in from the university’s administration.
