St. Cloud State University has invested heavily in esports over the past two years. This blog will serve to keep you up to date on the happenings of St Cloud State Esports and how you can get involved. If you like video games (even a little) be sure to check in every month or two to see what’s going on.
The esports industry is expected to triple in value over the next decade from $1.72 billion to $6.75 billion in 2030. With this kind of growth, there ought to be institutions to meet the needs of prospective esports professionals. St. Cloud State sees an opportunity to meet that need. Relevant information about esports industrial movements can be found from Fortune Business Insights:
https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/esports-market-106820
Now, let’s talk about what our school is doing to break into this Esports space. In February, the school hired Chase Neukam of St. Ambrose University for his many years of experience developing collegiate esports. His initiative for SCSU is all-encompassing, by providing three major components in esports: competition, careers, and community. This blog will be formatted according to those components. There’s a lot to cover; if you have any questions or comments feel free to post them below or email esports@stlcoudstate.edu.
Competition
This summer Esports hosted two major events: Northstar and MNCS Season 7 LAN.
Northstar, July 1st: This was an open-to-the-public Smash Tournament. Smash Bros Ultimate – for those who don’t know – is the most recent premier fighting game from Nintendo. This tournament also hosted a bracket for the older Smash Bros. Melee (2001) and the brand-new Street Fighter 6 (2023). The event was streamed to Twitch in the Huskies Esports Arena with the help of the UTVS Broadcasting School. Early matches (pools) happened in the Ballroom with the top players ultimately competing in the Arena – for of an audience online and in person. The top two players in Smash Bros Ultimate were Loaf (1st) and Lucky (2nd) who are twin brothers. They’ve played Smash together since they were kids. For an inaugural tournament, it was an exciting finale to see some of the top Smash talent in the state (even the Midwest) duking it out for dozens to watch.
| Game | Total | Smash Bros Ultimate | Smash Bros Melee | Street Fighter 6 |
| Attendees: | 108 | 78 | 17 | 20 |
(7 double-entered)
https://www.start.gg/tournament/northstar-a-regional-event-at-st-cloud-state/details
MNCS, July 29th and 30th: This was the season-ending Rocket League tournament for the Minnesota Championship Series (MNCS). This Series was founded in 2020 to create a community of Rocket League competition during the pandemic. The entirety of the 6-month season is held remotely, where various franchises (Rochester Rythm, Bemidji Lumberjacks, Burnsville Inferno, etc.) try to outplay each other in 3v3 Soccar. At the end of the season, MNCS hosts a LAN (Local-Area-Network) match where all the teams compete in person. The St. Cloud State Esports department decided to host this LAN in the Ballroom and the Arena. Over the two-day event, competitors from Prospect (the lowest league) to Premier (the highest league) raced around the pitch scoring some incredibly difficult goals. The esports content team conducted interviews with various players and one mother at the event. Those can be found on our YouTube channel. As this was the culmination of months of competition for dozens of players, with their parents and friends in attendance: this was a more nail-biting event. The final Premier match had the Esports Arena booming, with cheers from the audiences and howls from the competitors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAw79a2Rzns&ab_channel=St.CloudStateUniversityEsports
Careers
There were several Esports employment opportunities filled this year. After Chase Neukam was hired, he began developing a “Content Team”, hiring Jenny as a videographer and Chelsea as a graphic designer. In May, he hired me as a content manager and journalist for esports. At the end of this summer, we hired Riya as a recruitment and retention GA (focused on finding high schoolers) plus Jessica and Ethan as Team Managers (a go-between for the department and competitors). If you’re interested in working in the department, keep an eye out on Handshake!
Our varsity teams are helmed by Coach Kye for Rocket League and Coach Cam for Smash. These teams will be competing in NACE and NECC this Fall which is an impressive step in collegiate competition. Those interested in a career in esports should understand the sponsors and acclaim these leagues bring in.
It’s worth announcing there are a couple of opportunities for those interested in a career in Esports this month. We will be tabling at Mainstreet next Wednesday (Sept. 6th), stop by and chat about anything you’d like! We’re looking to expand and we’re open to hearing any ideas students have. Secondly, there is the: Be The Broadcaster Event on September 28th. It’s an opportunity to learn about esports commentating and production, sign up here: https://huskiesconnect.stcloudstate.edu/event/9158554
Friendly reminder for those interested, SCSU does offer multiple minors in esports. There are classes for business and non-business majors – focused on esports management. Then, there is a minor in esports broadcasting which would provide on-site training with broadcasting equipment and esports commentating. It’s worth checking out!
https://www.stcloudstate.edu/programs/esports-management/default.aspx
Community
On campus, there is the Esports Coalition which is the umbrella organization for all Esports-related clubs. These clubs include League of Legends, Overwatch, and Valorant. Any interested students can make new clubs for their game which (if performing well enough) could someday be promoted to a Varsity team. Even as a club though, there are ways to take a well-performing roster and register for NECC and NACE. Leaders of these esports clubs can receive scholarships and compete in local tournaments to win prizes. If you’re interested in making a club, please show up to Mainstreet or email: esports@stcloudstate.edu
In the vein of community, it’s worth outlining our esports facilities. The department has 20 RTX 4080 PCs and 10 RTX 3080 PCs in the Atwood Gaming Lounge and Huskies Esports Arena. While Varsity Teams and Clubs could reserve these PCs for practice/competition, any student could partner with Esports and set up their own tournament with Esports equipment. In Mitchell Hall, there is an esports-themed living floor. On this floor, there are TVs, Xbox Series Xs, and 165hz monitors for students to use. If you want to find other gamers, make some friends in Mitchell Hall.
The Content Team posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. Please tune in if you’re interested in supporting what we’re working on. While we are interested in marketing and expanding our reach, we do want to develop a genuine community on campus. If there’s an event you want to host an interview you’d like to see, or any other gaming/technology story worth telling, be sure to let us know: edison.jensen@go.stcloudstate.edu
Socials
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SCSUesports
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scsuesports/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scsuesports,
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuWvNtvbLZ0DXRdfv0E0_3Q
Email, with any questions! esports@stcloudstate.edu