eSports at Saint Cloud State University Is More Than Video Games

(KNSI) – St. Cloud State University’s eSports program is leveling up.

Vice President of Technology Strategy and Chief Information Officer Phil Thorson says the school isn’t just emphasizing video games. It is finding ways to incorporate them into the university and throughout central Minnesota to enhance curriculum.

“How can we leverage the sense of belonging that people have that we can create as a community but also leverage the problem solving the integration of classroom within the work? So, it’s just a really exciting time.”

Broadcasting students will learn how to produce and commentate on a tournament like what you’d see on Twitch. Holistic health applications exist within lesson plans where students have to create instructions for something they’re passionate about. Learning how to make the games themselves could be part of computer science courses.

SCSU also wants to create a regional community of college and high school students bonded by video games. Director of Education Technology Innovations Chris Stanley says it fills a void locally.

“But for whatever reason in the St. Cloud metro area there’s an absence. The Minnesota Varsity League, which has about 50-ish high schools represented — You’ll see, there’s a little bit about eSports black hole.”

Best Buy After Dark is for college and high school students. It runs from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. on January 21st and will feature free pizza and soft drinks. A Rocket League tournament and Super Smash Brothers mini-games are scheduled, plus demonstrations from Microsoft and Meta, which makes the Oculus headset.

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