Lately electronic sports, or eSports, have become a growing phenomenon. Many people have become hooked onto online gaming and competitions worldwide, but one that’s grappled onto over 27 million gamers’ attention is the game League of Legends. The game has caught so much attention as an eSport, that there have been colleges all over America offering eSport scholarship programs to college applicants.
League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena game, or better known as M.O.B.A., which consists of real-time strategy. Developed by the gaming company, Riot Games, back in Oct. 27, 2009, League of Legends has also been constantly compared with another popular M.O.B.A. game called Dota 2, causing fans of both games to debate between the two strategy games.
Esports has been constantly growing larger and larger as well as entering more into the mainstream community. There has been negative feedback towards the esports community as well as esports itself with many people claiming that it is “not a real sport.” But this hasn’t stopped fans and the community from growing in size and popularity.
Colleges, including Columbia College in Missouri have began to offer scholarships to eSport athletes to play League of Legends (6 Types Of College Scholarships). Due to the fact that other colleges such as Columbia College offer a League of Legends scholarship program, it has caused greater publicity for eSport and colleges. More and more colleges are accepting and have started to offer eSport scholarships. League of Legends is one of the most popular options. According to Riot Games’ Media Relations Manager Bob Colayco, other universities have debated the creation of varsity eSport programs (Mueller).
At the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), a League of Legends club was formed. This club provides an opportunity for gamers to meet and play League of Legends.
UCLA student William Jong expressed that “being a college player not only do you have to commit your time to League of Legends, you also have to commit your time to your career-your studies” Another UCLA student, Daphne Jin stated, “Sometimes it can be a little busy, but overall it’s a really cool bunch of people and I would say that because they’ve been a huge part of my college experience” (uLoL Spotlight: UCLA).
League of Legends has both supporters and critics but it continues to draw in people from all over the world.
