Esports reign at Ryerson
Ryerson’s esports club has seen an increase in participation since COVID-19 began. (Photo taken before COVID-19).
Esports: competitive video gaming. The phenomenon has been gaining incredible levels of popularity. Gamers are followed and watched by millions and it is considered to be a billion-dollar industry.
Last month OverActive Media Group announced that Toronto will be home to a $500-million sports and entertainment facility (external link) that plans to “elevate Toronto and Canada as a destination of choice for the global industry of gaming and esports.” It will be headquarters for two Toronto-based esports teams, Toronto Ultra and Toronto Defiant.
What does this mean for Ryerson? Well, for professor Kris Alexander there is a clear opportunity for collaboration. Alexander is part of a research lab in the Faculty of Communication and Design called The Conduit (external link) . The Conduit is working to legitimize the industry of video games and esports through creative content development and academic publication.
“This announcement is in-line with much of the work we are doing,” he said. “This new entertainment space is an historic moment for global esports initiatives.”
The university also has a very popular esports club that was established in 2015.
According to esports club president Liam Parmar, Ryerson has teams for 11 separate esports leagues, including Valorant, Rocket League, League of Legends and Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
And while the pandemic continues to force the postponement of varsity and intramural sports, the esports club has continued to operate as a competitive club (external link) .
“Our club has seen an increase from nine supported titles to 11 and a roster of 70 people to almost 100 for the 2020-2021 academic year,” Parmar said.
A community within the community
Benson ‘PlebW’ Lam is both a Ryerson esports team manager for Valorant and team player for Overwatch. He sees esports growing “into the mainstream lifestyle.”
“Everything from work [and] online classes have shifted, but esports has always been in that environment. It has grown significantly larger because of that,” Lam said.
Comradery is strong for Rainbow Six: Siege team coach, Alexander ‘SpectralThreat’ Antonyuk. “Sometimes COVID seems to disappear for a moment with Ryerson's esports community,” he said. “Playing matches against other competitors has never seemed so intense and fun, it brings people to a common goal and just have a good time.”
There is a unique level of competition within collegiate-level esports. Players from Ryerson’s club compete against schools from all over North America, which is a huge group of competitors. Associations in the U.S. have thousands of student-athletes. In Canada, the Ontario Post-Secondary Esports (external link) association is building a Canadian network for esports athletes at the collegiate level.
“It's an inspiring environment when you are able to play against others…at one of the highest competitive levels,” said Steven ‘burnin’ Truong, a Fortnite team player at Ryerson. “There are also subtle rivalries when playing against local universities … the sense of communal pride beats all else when you bring home prize earnings.”
For more information on Ryerson’s esports club, visit the esports club page (external link) .
