Dan Jaillet

“The new generation is looking for a differentiation.” So says Alan Ritacco, dean of the School of Design and Technology at Becker College.

With its game design program ranked No. 4 in the world and having been ranked in the Princeton Review’s “Top Schools for Video Game Design” nine years in a row, some would argue Becker is ahead of the growing trend of esports.

Even as the trend continues to grow and many things are still unknown, esports has proven to be very lucrative. According to a February report by CBS This Morning, esports is a $1.5 billion industry. That number is expected to rise to $2.3 billion in 2022. Through all of this, Becker continues to serve as one of the top esports schools in the country. It is easy to see why.

Tim Loew is the executive director of Massachusetts Digital Games Institute, also known as MassDiGI. In addition, he is the general manager of Becker’s varsity esports program. The program launched this past summer and is the first varsity esports program to offer scholarships in Massachusetts. Once the varsity program was established, the college announced a bachelor of science in esports management.

Loew thought the combination of the resources of the college and the vibrant on-campus gaming community was enough to venture into the world of esports.

“Because of its perennially top-ranked game design academic program, Becker has become home to one of the largest on-campus gaming communities around. Building on that success – and the success and growth of Becker’s gaming tournaments and esports clubs – we felt this was the right time to dive into esports,” he said.

Starting in the fall 2018 semester, scholarships of up to $5,000 became available to student athletes. Academics, communication skills and ability are just some of the things the college looks for in a potential scholarship recipient.

“This semester, the college supports two varsity teams in League of Legends and, due to a special opportunity, one varsity team in SMITE,” Loew said. “In coming years, we expect to add more games like Overwatch and Hearthstone, among others.”

It appears that Loew could not have formed the club at a more perfect time. An Overwatch video game all-star weekend was held in August in Burbank, Calif. The first day hosted a series of custom skill matches, while the second day was an all-star event. Top players were broken down into two teams, the Atlantic Team and the Pacific Team. They faced each other in the finals in what was the game’s first all-star event.

If anything, this just speaks to the growth of the game. Prior to the all-star event, the finals were held in July. As Rittaco noted, that proved to be a major success. This ties into the bigger picture of how the esports industry has grown over the past couple of years. He has seen it firsthand, having served as the dean at Becker since 2015.

“This has been in the initial stages of setting things up,” Rittaco said. “The big difference, in my perspective, is that the audience and fan base have really caught up. Newer, fresher games like Overwatch and League of Legends have stepped onto the scene and taken on a single approach. Creating a game that is more of a sporting event has really changed the outlook. When Overwatch stepped onto the scene, the game was crafted as ‘I can play this game, but I can also help people watch this game.’ The Overwatch finals were in July and, according to one source, there were more than 860,000 viewers per minute.”

The college hopes to capitalize on this momentum. Currently, there are 16 students in the varsity esports program and about 80 members on the club team. Five student athletes have earned scholarships at the varsity level for League of Legends, and the Becker varsity esports program has attracted sponsorships from Origin PC, Gamer Sensei and ZAM Network’s Storm Shield One. Gamer Sensei is a Boston-based company that offers pro coaching and lessons with experienced gamers.

The incorporation of pro coaching is also a model that Becker has built into its esports curriculum. Particularly this semester, coaching is something that will play a big role in each of Becker’s esports classes.

“This semester, we have our esports management program taught on Thursday nights. We are driving the esports management courses, which will be co-taught by the industry experts in conjunction with our faculty,” Ritacco said. “We are getting experts to teach these classes, and we are fortunate to have that connection with the club sports, as well.”

In addition to the top-level coaching, Becker has made sure the college is equipped with the proper facilities and equipment for gamers. For one, it has a lab specifically designed for esports, including Origin PC computers equipped with BenQ displays, Das mechanical keyboards, HyperX headsets and Logitech mice. In addition to those amenities, the gamers are given uniforms, allowed special gaming chairs and given access to the wellness center and health services.

“The industry is going through changes in carving out where they are going to exist in terms of esports. Is YouTube gonna take over? What is the longevity for these games?” Ritacco said. “One of the challenges is going to be video game production management and looking to create longevity, so there is not a fatigue and games drop off. Programmatically, you want to keep making things continue to be exciting.”

There seems to be excitement at Becker College as its esports program continues to grow. What started off as just a fun hobby for many has now transformed into something greater. Forming agile minds with a hunger for learning in different ways, esports is an exciting and intriguing pathway for success.

For more information, you can check out Becker’s esports information page at becker.edu and on Twitter @BeckerESports.