SDSU's Cutting-Edge Esports Engagement Center Bridges Gaming, Wellness, and Student Success

Randy Timm, dean of students for San Diego State University, recalled a time when students would seek out empty rooms to host late-night competitive multiplayer video gaming sessions, esports club meetings and workshops.

“They were like, ‘Hey, listen, we can't find space, we don't know what to do,’” said Timm, also Associate Vice President in the Division for Student Affairs and Campus Diversity.

That was six years ago.

Since late October, competitive gamers, recreational players, and interested observers looking to explore virtual reality have been streaming into the University Library's 24/7 space and entering SDSU’s Esports Engagement Center (EEC) where they’re transported to a vibrant digital gaming venue.

With input from the gaming students and support from various teams across the university — the University Library, the Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, and the Division of Information Technology — the EEC features state-of-the-art equipment, gaming PCs and next-gen consoles. The center also includes a lounge area with plenty of elbow room for socializing, a large video wall to spectate matches, and a high-end driving simulator. Visitors can also check out board games, from Battleship and Jenga to Chess and Scrabble.

The Esports Engagement Center is a long-awaited transformation. 

“The Esports Center being opened shows that the school wants to be involved with the gaming growth and community as well,” said Kyle Merkel, president of Aztec Gaming. The fourth-year business marketing major plans to take full advantage of the center’s career development and well-being resources.

“People love the idea of getting a job in the field of esports, and creating education and getting resources to allow that for students will help immensely,” said Merkel. 

The SDSU team has carefully planned the conversion of the former study space. The priority of the gaming center’s design was that it not only functions as an esports facility but also promotes SDSU’s values: health and well-being, inclusivity, student success, advising, career development and scholarly research.

“We knew that we wanted it to be a full and holistic engagement center rather than just kind of a place where folks engaged with esports,” said Caryl Montero-Adams, assistant dean of students for student life.

In designing the EEC’s wellness programming, Timm pointed to SDSU research by psychology professor Jean Twenge that looks at screen time and online settings and its correlation to sleep deprivation, depression and loneliness, among other symptoms. But when one of his own students missed a test after an overnight gaming session, Timm began taking a closer look into today's gaming culture.

“All of this is putting students at our core … it's finding ways for us to connect with students that are more like what their experience is in real life,” said Timm.

“What we were seeing with some of the students is they didn't necessarily have the healthiest behaviors with regards to the amount of time that they were spending online,” he also said. “How can we help students get healthier behaviors with regards to online activities and at the same time provide them with resources and support to make better choices and to do better both in school and their egaming?”

These concerns resulted in the implementation of EEC’s health and wellness component which offers students direct access to a team of coordinated care advisers and retention specialists. 

“One of the key components in all of this is putting ‘Students at our Core,’” said Timm, echoing one of SDSU’s five strategic goals and a key activity to support student mental health and basic needs.

RELATED: Social Media and Kids’ Mental Health: Q&A with Jean Twenge

GAMING CAREERS

There’s also another component: helping students to develop skills for careers in gaming. 

When it comes to gaming, California accounts for 218,100 video game industry-related jobs and generates $51.8 billion in annual economic output, more than any other state, according to the Entertainment Software Association's 2020 Economic Impact Report. The Engagement Center will look to host career fairs and networking events.

“There's also administration, so handling esports,” said Timm, describing the growing viewership of gaming competitions. “That's one of the goals that we have for the facility is to also do eBroadcasting so that students can learn how to broadcast as well. That's another area of growth.”

For the Engagement Center to provide sufficient space for the various planned programming in a 24/7 environment, work was done to convert the space into the pixel playground the team envisioned.

“This was an opportunity for us to identify what it is that we wanted to do, what we want this to look like at San Diego State, and how we are addressing the overall interest from our students,” said Montero-Adams.

Scott Walter, dean of the SDSU library, welcomed the project into the library's 24/7 space calling it “accessible to all students” and safe during late night hours “which is when we expect most of the activity of the center to occur.”

“It's an ideal space for programs where students are engaging in further development around digital skills and information technology learning,” said Walter. “And, because of the approach that SDSU is taking to esports, it's a natural extension of our existing collaboration with Student Affairs around student health and wellness initiatives.”

As for the group of camping students, they formed Aztec Gaming, a competitive gaming club. The team captured first place in California State University’s inaugural Esports Cal State Cup last March.

“For Aztec Gaming,” Merkel also said, “it allows us as a club to host more community events, invite other schools to compete in different events, and just allow our competitive gamers to play together in one room…All in all, I think the facility is a great addition to the school and I am excited to see where it will lead us in the future.”

ABOUT THE ESPORTS ENGAGEMENT CENTER

The Esports Engagement Center is located in Library Addition 2203. Additional gaming resources are available in the library through the Build IT Makerspace.