To an uninitiated audience, phrases like “eSports” and “cyber athlete” often conjure up images of social misfits who have somehow managed to turn their beloved timewasting hobby into a lucrative career, much to the chagrin of their parents and grandparents.
Photo credit goes to UC Irvine.
To an uninitiated audience, phrases like “eSports” and “cyber athlete” often conjure up images of social misfits who have somehow managed to turn their beloved timewasting hobby into a lucrative career, much to the chagrin of their parents and grandparents. Yet if you were to take a brief glance at the history of eSports, a deeply ingrained history of competition, motivation, and generous support from the parents of professional gamers would dispel most of the stereotyped notions that surround competitive gaming.
It is difficult to deny that eSports’s popularity has also exploded into the public domain within the past seven years or so, what with the rise of games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 in competitive gaming. The University of California, Irvine (UCI) plans to take this blossoming phenomenon to the next level this fall with several programs that will distinguish it as the first public research facility to nurture an eSports initiative.
UCI is located in the heart of Irvine, CA, which is home to a number of tech giants and gaming companies (with the most well-known among these being Activision Blizzard).