SHU Hosts 3rd Annual Esports Showcase

On Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2, Sacred Heart University hosted the third annual E-sports showcase. It took place in the Frank and Marisa Martire forum.

E-sports is known as competitive video gaming.

“E-sports is a genre of gamers who take video games to the next level. They are on the top of their game. It’s pretty impressive what they do. I’m proud to be a part of it,” said sophomore Brendan Mahon.

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Among the games that were played, one of them is known as OverWatch.

“OverWatch is a five versus five first-person shooter. You can play as a tank, who are big and bulky. They know how to block. You can play as a damage hero whose primary job is to get kills and secure eliminations. And then you have supports who are healers,” said junior Justin Alter.

Another E-sport that was played this past weekend was Valorant.

“Valorant is a five versus five first-person shooter. Each character is ability based. Each ability can help you win the game,” said senior Chris Kelly. 

Professor Andrew Miller and Professor Joshua Shuart came up with the idea to have an E-sports Showcase.

“When Professor Shuart and I started the [E-sports] minor a little over three years ago, we designed it with a capstone class, and we thought it made sense to put together an event, and we came up with the idea for a Connecticut collegiate E-sports tournament,” said Miller. 

There were 10 teams that participated in the E-sports Showcase. A step up from last year’s showcase which only had six teams. 

“This showcase is amazing. It’s a chance for other schools to show off their E-sports programs. Last year when I played in it, we did it at West Campus in the AI Lab which is a tiny room and now we have a giant set up with state of the art PCs. I am very grateful that we have this experience,” said Alter.

The E-sports Showcase is trying to help increase the popularity of E-sports.

In the last five years, E-sports has exploded and it doesn’t show any signs of stopping,” said Mahon.