The rise of esports at UW

Esports — competitive video gaming — is a genre of competition that has become a global phenomenon in the modern world since its humble beginnings in the gaming cafes of East Asia in the early 2000s. UW has been contributing to the esports scene in its own right for longer than one might expect, culminating in adding several esports titles to its official athletics department in 2020. 

Anna Tian, who works as the coordinator for Warrior Esports, commented on the long history of UW esports. “I would say esports has a long history at Waterloo… There was a StarCraft 2 club, or competitive team back in the middle to late 2000s… but my experience and knowledge of it [was] that it consistently started in, I believe, 2017 when an esports club was founded by our previous president… [After consolidation with the League of Legends club in 2020], somebody from athletics approached us wanting to integrate esports into [UW athletics], and that led to where we are now.” 

Esports itself originated in Korea and China with real-time strategy games like the aforementioned StarCraft (1998). The rise of multiplayer online battle arena games (MOBAs) such as Defense of the Ancients (2003), League of Legends (2009) and Dota 2 (2013) began throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s. First-person shooters and MOBAs are currently the most popular titles, helping the esports industry establish its global market of $3.2 billion in 2023, which is expected to grow to $23 billion by 2033.

The League of Legends World Championship, an annual event featuring the best teams around the globe for esports’ biggest game, was held in London at the O2 Arena this past November. The championship finals peaked at seven million live viewers (excluding Chinese viewers, for which we do not have public data) and took place in front of 15,000 live spectators.

Luckily, you don’t have to take a seven-hour flight to watch high-level competition. UW boasts a number of its own collegiate esports teams that compete in leagues and tournaments. Eight teams across five titles, including Gold teams (highest level of competition), Black teams (developmental teams) and a White team (designed around inclusivity of marginalised communities). There are Gold and Black League of Legends teams, Gold, Black, and White Valorant teams and  Gold teams for Rocket League, Overwatch and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. According to Tian, there are about 60 players and staff in total. 

Coming up at the start of next year from Jan. 10 to 12, the WaterLAN Championship event will be held at Conestoga College and UW. WaterLAN is an annual esports event that was founded in 2023 by UW and Conestoga College that invites collegiate teams from across Ontario to compete. Last year they held tournaments for Rocket League and Valorant, featuring over 20 teams between the two games. This year’s event will feature Valorant and League of Legends, with more details coming as it gets closer. 

Responding to how to get involved with esports at UW, Tian added, “We do tryouts in the beginning of the fall term every year and we have selective tryouts during the winter term.” If competition isn’t your strong suit, you can participate in other ways. As Elissa Chen, one of the UW League of Legends team managers, puts it, “Esports is more than just what you see at the competitive level. esports and gaming exist at the community level at UW and have helped to bring thousands of students together, which is what games are meant to do. If you’re concerned that you’re ‘not good enough’ at a game to take part in an event, just the experience of enjoying a beloved hobby with a community is something we want to foster.” 

For many members, the most valuable element of UW esports comes down to the connections with other students. “I think being in an environment surrounded by people that enjoy the same games as I do is amazing and has led me to meet people from across campus (and other schools!) that I normally wouldn’t be able to meet through just academics,” Chen said. If this sounds enjoyable, the UW Esports Discord hosts weekly game nights and occasional watch parties and tournaments. This fall, they held a Teamfight Tactics tournament, watch parties for the League of Legends World Championship and a number of game nights for Roblox and Valorant. More info can be found by joining the Discord or following their Instagram, @uwaterloogg.