Murdoch Esports: The New Gaming Hub

Murdoch Esports is the club dedicated to esports and video-gaming at Murdoch University. We have over 300 members signed up to the club and over 700 on our active Discord server, which is an online text and voice chat service. The club is both a social and competitive– if you like playing games, you’ll certainly be sure to find like-minded friends with us. For social gamers, we hold weekly casual game nights, weekly meetups on campus, LAN parties and much much more. If competitive gaming is more your bread and butter we currently field teams for six mainstream esports titles; Rainbow Six Siege, Counter-Strike: GO (both military-style tactical first-person shooters), League of Legends and DOTA 2 (staples of the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena genre), Overwatch (a class-based high-speed FPS), and Rocket League (a vehicular soccer game). We always encourage students to contact us and try out. Our tryouts usually happen at the start of each semester. This is an exciting time because our new recruits will be training in the new Gaming Hub currently being introduced to the campus! *

The Gaming Hub will be the point of contact for all things gaming and esports on campus. It will be located in the old table tennis room close to the reception of the sports centre. Don’t worry about the spin-class pictures ruining the room’s aesthetic – the glass walls are receiving a sleek new graphic that will be a welcome addition to the area. As the first dedicated University Gaming Hub in WA this space will be a major selling point for Murdoch University over other Universities in the state. The Gaming Hub will be showcased, using its new RGB lighting, by Murdoch during orientation days, high school visits, and Murdoch Open Day. If you have friends and family interested in gaming, and attending university soon, be sure to let them know about this upcoming addition to campus!

The room will be equipped with 12 high-fidelity gaming setups in a sleek, modern-looking, space similar to the computer labs in the IT building. You’ll be glad to hear peripherals are provided, with the headphones being wiped down with anti-bacterial wipes after every use. If you are more of a watcher than a gamer, you are welcome to come and view from the bench located down the middle of the room. A TV will also be found in the corner of the room to allow for our competitive teams to do Video On Demand (VOD) reviews and to work together collaboratively to improve their game. Students will be free to use the room from 8 am to 4 pm, with outside visitors and staff able to use it as well for its usual rate - which kicks in for students from 4 pm to 10 pm. The room will also be able to be fully booked for a price, inclusive of game time for all 12 computers for the duration of your booking. To accommodate any hungry gamers Murdoch Sports will also be getting a new selection of snacks and drinks that can be purchased from the front reception.

Alongside its gaming centre capacity, this space will also be used for a youth program to combine learning and play for primary and high school students in tournaments and events. The youth program will allow students, primarily through Viking Kids, and hopefully outside program organisers to use these facilities both recreationally but also for educational purposes. Having access to this kind of facility on campus will also be a boon to those studying the gaming industry or esports entertainment. For students that aren’t that involved in esports or video-gaming, this allows a safe and easily accessible space to dip your toes in or to just use it as another way to socialise with friends!

The idea is to not only use the space to help students de-stress but to also give students an insight into the esports scene and to provide academics or students with a rare opportunity to access a large cohort of people to survey or interview for research purposes relating to esports, health, leisure, recreation and more. Research in esports is currently in its infancy due to a lack of locations to gather data, especially in WA. Feel free to reach out to Murdoch Sports if esports research is something you are interested at all. There will also be opportunities to stream University league games played in the Gaming Hub to the Student Hub, in the food court for the entire university to view. A great way to add shout-casting to your casting portfolio if you are looking for experience. You’ll hopefully see more students representing Murdoch and can cheer them on!

*Even though the room is currently experiencing a delay due to COVID-19 it is still an exciting time to be a gamer at Murdoch. Murdoch Esports is here to stay so GAME ON and see you there!