Murdoch University, in conjunction with Murdoch Esports and Murdoch Sports, will be opening an on-campus esports space for student use in 2020.

It will give the competitive esports teams of Murdoch University a space to practice on campus, as well as act as a hub for students of all backgrounds on campus to socialise through video gaming.

“This space is intended to operate in a way to support students at Murdoch University and to attract members to the esports club. It’s an exciting development in the area of esports at Murdoch University,” said Murdoch Sports Manager Jamie Ball.

Esports is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide, fusing the entertainment industry of video gaming with the competitive structure of traditional sports. In Australia, over 60% of people play video games on a regular basis, and there are dozens of professional esports teams who play domestically and internationally across a wide variety of games.

The recognition of esports officially by Murdoch is a big step forward for the development of the club, said Murdoch Esports president Kyle Haddleton.

“Every big organisation that gets on board with esports and embraces it like Murdoch University is with this project is a massive leap towards the goal our club set out to achieve three years ago.”

Murdoch Esports is one of the biggest Murdoch Guild affiliated clubs, with over 300 registered members. It currently hosts a number of competitive teams on the Australian university stage in games like League of Legends, Rainbow Six: Siege, Rocket League, and Overwatch.

The Overwatch team recently made the semi finals of the Australian University Esports League, while the Rocket League team triumphed over Curtin University and Edith Cowan University in the WA Esports Cup in early September.

The project was enabled through the Student Services and Amenities Fund (SSAF), set aside for projects at Murdoch University that help enrich the student experience on campus.

“The Murdoch University SSAF Committee is proud to both recognise and elevate the facilities available to students in line with the escalating demand,” said Matthew Evans, the Director of Student and Library Services at Murdoch University.

“The teamwork, support, camaraderie and networks that will grow through providing an enhanced esports facility will help provide a quality connection and focal point for a dynamic segment of the Murdoch University community.”

The esports space is set to open in February 2020, before the start of Semester 1.