UAlbany unveils $3.3 million esports arena

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -A 4,000-square-foot esports arena is now open at the University at Albany after two years of planning. The college is home to one of the nation's largest collegiate video game programs that continues to grow.

Esports and the UAlbany go all the way back to 2016 with the computer game League of Legends. 300 students quickly signed up to play which led the college to rework the teams and create a new space.

"The first thing everyone notices is it's about three times the size of what we had on the downtown campus. We've gone from about 14 PCs to 36," said John Macone, Director of Esports. There's also Nintendo and PlayStation game consoles for players to battle it out.

For gamers who do not have a computer strong enough to run the newest games at home, the arena is a place they can play with no limits. "I think there's a lot of gaming opportunities that you miss out on when you don't have a good enough PC and a lot of people aren't willing to spend that amount of money to get into games they're not even sure they're going to enjoy," described David Aduku, a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player.

And for the first time, casual players can now play at the arena. It's open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. The pros told NEWS10's Anthony Krolikowski that they practice two hours every day. This dedication earned the Super Smash Bros. team 2nd place in last year's tournament. 

"The playoffs game was four hours. We stayed up until 1 a.m. The match started at 8 a.m. Best of seven games," stated Daniel Porter, Super Smash Bros Captain.

Esports teams on both the college and high school levels from around the Capital Region will also be competing in person at UAlbany. Fans can watch from the sidelines or at home thanks to live streams.