Located in the student recreation center at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), on the second floor is the esports lounge. Inside is a world of technology, gaming systems and even a golf simulator. For the Lounge itself, all the gaming systems have no time limits, and the lounge hours are usually in line with the rest of the recreation system.
In the lounge there are several rows of Alienware personal computers (PC’s), Xbox, PlayStation, Wii consoles, Nintendo Switch systems and even retro arcade games such as NBA Live. There is a checkout desk on the front door with all different kinds of controllers, headsets and a variety of games for all of the consoles inside the lounge, there are already some games preloaded onto the computers, and the lounge has accounts set up for you to use. The lounge has a Steam account, which is a gaming distribution service to play games such as Marvel Rivals. All of this is free for EKU students to use.
On Feb.25, the lounge hosted a Super Smash Bros tournament. The tournament had no limits on what character the player could choose from. The rules were best of three, double elimination. The esports lounge aside from the recreational side of things also has their own esports team that compete against other schools in a variety of games. These are considered club teams for games like Valorant, Rainbow Six Siege, Rocket League, and Marvel Rivals. These are broadcasted to different apps online. They run the matches remote from their homes or they have their own broadcast space in the lounge itself. The esports lounge can mean a lot of different things to people at EKU.
Jack Jurin, a junior general business major who works at the Esports lounge as a Program Assistant (PA), hopes the esports lounge can be a safe space for students at EKU. “I hope the esports lounge can be a place for people who cannot afford a gaming console, or the time to go out and make friends but they can come here and meet other people with the same interests.,” Jurin said.
Being a PA for the lounge means helping run events, the checkout desk and working with the Rec Center as a whole to make sure the lounge works properly. “A lot of people see us as just doing tournaments- I do not think of it just that. I see us as a student resource,” Jurin said “I think we are a destresser with the stigma of esports. My number one priority is to make sure students who cannot afford a gaming console or PC can come in and have a good time.” Student worker Charles Weber, an undergraduate chemistry major, found the lounge as a place to relax.
“My first semester here, before I worked at the lounge, I attended all of the tournaments. The lounge was a place where I could relax,” Weber said. “I eventually started working here and now I get to help other people have a good time.”
There are options for everyone at the lounge, Weber said.
“…We have PC’s, consoles, you can bring your own games and you can hang out with friends. (We even have) arcade games and there is always something for everyone,” he said. Weber really enjoys the PC’s provided at the lounge. “I really like the PC’s because not everyone has a PC. That is because college is expensive, and PC’s are expensive, and PC’s are expensive as well. We offer them for free and there is no timer on how long you can be on a game,” he said. To find out more information about the EKU sports lounge you can visit them during their hours, which are posted online on the EKU Student Recreation website.
