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Durham University recently launched a new esports hub for students and the wider community to access.
The hub can be found in the Sports & Wellbeing Park at Maiden Castle.
The uni – which has reached top five in the NSE university esports tournaments in recent years – hopes the new space will help it get even better results in the future.
It has also been hosting an intercollegiate tournament for players of all skill levels, and plans to host more tournaments for the wider community, as well as industry events and summer camps, as well as offering coaching, mentorship and team-building staff nights.
The esports hub has 12 high-spec networked gaming PCs kitted out with Intel Core i7 processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards, 32GB Corsair Vengeance RAM workstations, 165hz monitors, LED lighting and Noblechairs gaming chairs, desks and ASUS ROG accessories, as well as Elgato Stream Decks and Logitech C922 Pro webcams.
The university has also established an esports laptop loan scheme to widen participation.
Currently, only Durham University Esports and Gaming members can book and use the new space. However, as part of its esports strategy, Durham is looking to expand this to the wider student body (for a small fee) and build a community outreach programme in collaboration with local schools and colleges.
Durham University hosted a soft-launch event for its students, and its DUEG club uses the Esport Hub for weekly in-house tournaments. It also hosted a Women and Non-Binary LAN event.
Kylie Kendrick, Senior Technical Specialist in the Computing and Information Services Department, helped create the Durham University esports hub.
She said: “Esports has grown massively at Durham. It started off as a basic society and now it’s a full blown club and is thriving.
“I wanted to build a facility where students could come together and build a community. It feels wonderful to finally have space on campus like this. It’s a great milestone in the university’s esports journey.”
Kylie Kendrick, Durham University
“There is also large women and non-binary Esports community at Durham, and I intend to foster the community and develop it further as a safe space for this demographic of gamers.
“So by hosting regular in-person events, we hope to support and grow this community.”
Durham University is one of several institutions to open new esports facilities. The University of Salford has a new esports lab, Staffordshire University has revamped esports facilities, Queen’s University Belfast has a new esports centre and Coleg Cambria Deeside recently opened a new £230,000 esports arena for students, to name a few.
To book the space, check out the DUEG Room Booking Discord Channel
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
