Esports is competitive gaming using video games on various platforms, most often in the form of organized, multiplayer competitions. An esports program consists of several teams participating in specific game titles. Players usually focus on only one game but can play additional titles depending on skill and schedule.

The global esports market generated 696 million dollars in revenue in the last year with a global fan base of 385 million people.

Esports is an extracurricular activity where students can find a larger community of like-minded peers. Students learn valuable skills playing esports such as how to participate in a team sport, strategic thinking, time management, and managing success and failure.

OTC’s esports arena is on the Springfield campus, Information Commons West room 117.

The OTC Esports Arena features Nintendo Switch consoles with a variety of games as well as 12 high-end gaming PCs from MSI with the following specifications: Intel Core i9 3.5 GHz, 16 GB of RAM, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3080 10G GDDR6X. We also have a table for tabletop or card games.

OTC’s co-ed esports program is open to full-time students who are in good standing with the college and have at least a 2.0 grade-point average (GPA). If the student is not 18 years of age or older, a parent or guardian’s permission will be required.

Additionally, players will be required to practice for a set number of hours and manage other esports-related responsibilities.

The OTC Esports Club Team is designed to support avid video game fans and help you connect with people who share your love of video games. Esports Club Team members will have the opportunity to play and learn from our competition team members in a competitive, yet friendly, environment. OTC’s Competitive Esports Team competes through the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE).

Both teams have weekly practices and games throughout the season, opportunities for in-person events, LANs, and compete for prizes in tournaments. Students must meet academic and time commitment requirements to be part of the competitive team.

Yes. OTC offers scholarships of up to $1,000 annually for competitive esports players.

OTC focuses on games that are team-based and can easily support inter-school competition. Games for competition are selected based on popularity, the ability to participate in league/tournament play and suitable content. The final selection criteria will be determined in conjunction with other institutions and/or leagues.

You can learn about which games and team formats we currently compete in on our Team Info page.

If you would like to suggest a game, please complete the Interest Form.

Tryouts will be scheduled, if necessary, based on the number of students who sign up to compete and which games are chosen for our competition season. Information about team information sessions will be sent to students who completed the Interest Form and posted on the Team Discord.

Most competitions will occur online and require no travel. As the program develops, we plan to travel occasionally for tournaments. In those cases, the team will travel as a group and student-athletes would incur little or no expense.

At this time, there are no costs for students who are participating on an esports team.

We want every enrolled OTC student to have access to the esports facility and offer open recreational hours to students and employees. We especially encourage those who may have had little to no access to some of the gaming systems we have to use the facility during these hours. We do our best to ensure the space is serving as many students as possible.

Hours of availability for the esports facility are posted on the OTC Esports homepage and in the Discord.

You may bring and use personal games or equipment of limited size that does not display profane visuals or words if approved by the staff. OTC and the esports arena staff are not responsible for loss, theft or damage of personal equipment brought to the arena.

All games played in the Gaming Center must be rated T for Teen or below by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. You may not play or install any games in the arena that fall outside of our content guidelines.