By: Cassidy Stephenson

Concordia’s Gamer’s Alliance has been an official club since its creation in 2013. In addition to CUC having a casual gaming club, CUC also has a competitive Esports Club, which has been in development for the past year. Game Art is a newly approved major at CUC and Scott Cenkar is the Visiting Assistant Professor for the program. Cenkar stated that “Concordia University Chicago has expressed a commitment to the growing Esports team and eventually expanding it to include an arena.”  The Esports club has approximately 20 members and was in the process of expanding into a team before COVID hit. They have not been able to meet in person since the call to move courses online during the Spring semester. They currently have a Discord server in order to practice remotely playing games like Overwatch, League of Legends, Valorant, Modern Warfare, and Rocket League. 

Cenkar hopes to use the space in the basement of Krauss for practice and competitions. Simon Hatcher, Esports Club member, stated that the space is “equipped with around 10 high-end computers.” The computers are programmed with top of the line hardware and software to be able to run games efficiently. The club members are currently trying to coordinate a plan to unlock the space to be able to utilize it but are restricted because of COVID guidelines. 

It is still up in the air if the Concordia Esports will be able to meet in person this semester due to restrictions on campus in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have an interest in participating in Concordia’s Esports Club, please email Scott.Cenkar@cuchicago.edu for more information.