Game on at the University of Washington.

A state-of-the-art Esports Arena & Gaming Lounge at the UW’s Husky Union Building is up and running after an official ribbon cutting on Thursday and a week of events that helped usher in a new era of competition and learning at the university in Seattle.

The 1,000-square-foot gaming center makes the UW the largest public, higher education institution in the nation to have such a dedicated facility and the first university in the state of Washington to have such a space.

Aimed at casual and competitive gamers, and funded in part by the Student Technology Fee, the arena provides access to 40 high-end gaming computers, two VR systems, a casting station for live streaming to Twitch and popular, unlocked PC games. The lounge will also serve as a space for sponsored tournaments.

“With the Esports Arena we have this actual physical location to match and represent our culture, our community here,” said Will Nguyen, UW student epsorts director. “People can really come together and it brings it to this next level, where it’s not just some people talking over the internet.”

The intention is for the physical space, and the opportunity to play, to go beyond just gaming for students and provide the learning potential necessary to connect with companies in the Seattle area.

Justin Camputaro, director of the Husky Union Building, said in Seattle alone there are more than 23,000 jobs in interactive media.

“What I have learned is that these games are very different from the days of Atari and Pong, or even Nintendo days. It is a lot about teamwork, it is about strategy, it is about mathematical computations, and understanding how the teams and the players works together,” Camputaro said. “There is a true educational element behind this gaming, when you dig in and start to understand that it is really really powerful. This is more than just playing a game.”

A growing number of institutions are now offering esports scholarships as the industry is growing at a phenomenal rate. Forbes reported last year on the growth in esports scholarships among colleges and universities and how it could get as big as traditional sports on campus.

The Esports Arena is located on the basement level of the HUB at 4001 E Stevens Way N.E. Check this UW website for rates and hours of operation.