Consoles and computers: UAA Esports fifth anniversary

2024 marks the fifth anniversary of the UAA Esports Lounge’s creation. The lounge has 18 computers, two Nintendo Switches, an Oculus and a Playstation 5 — all for students to use. 

UAA’s Esports lounge is located on the second floor of the Student Union, next to the coffee shop. The ambience of green RGB lighting that lines the walls and the slight heat coming from computer fans provide a fun space for students.

Student Esports manager Daniel Ribuffo spoke with The Northern Light about the Esports Lounge and the amount of traffic consoles and computers have seen in the last five years. 

All UAA students who are taking at least one credit can use the lounge’s gear at any time. If students would like to use a controller or other accessories, they can be checked out through the Esports staff members. 

According to Ribuffo in a follow-up email, the Esports lounge computers had 4,586 hours of playtime in the 2023 academic year. The average session playtime was one hour and 43 minutes. These numbers were spread out among 430 users and do not include any time gaming on consoles. 

Ribuffo said that students taking 12 credits a semester and are in good academic standing can participate in tryouts for UAA’s Esports competitive teams. 

The Esports lounge has six different teams, each allowing a maximum of five people to join. The titles that are supported by Esports competitive teams are Super Smash Brothers, Rocket League, Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, League of Legends and Valorant.

Tryouts took place on Aug. 29-30, and team captains decide who will be accepted onto the team. 

If students are not interested in any of the mentioned titles, Ribuffo said that Esports Lounge staff can help students become part of a desired league, assist with game registration, advertise teams and provide a space to hold tryouts. 

Ribuffo said that if students have their own gaming laptops or handheld devices, the lounge can be enjoyed as a space for the ambiance and as a place for students to game together on their own devices. 

The Esports Lounge is completely self-funded which can prove to be a challenge for adding every game students would like to see available. Some of the most requested games for the lounge are fighting games like Tekken. 

Although the lounge cannot buy game titles very often, if students have their own Steam, Riot or Microsoft accounts, they can log in with their unique user ID and will have all of their owned games available. 

Ribuffo said that while there is nothing set in stone for the celebration of the lounge's fifth anniversary as of yet, they hope to have another event similar to the UAA vs. UAF vs. UAS Esports competition that was held last year.

“We hope to be able to do something to show appreciation to the students who have legitimized our existence the past five years,” said Ribuffo. 

Students can join UAA’s Esports Discord to keep up-to-date with everything the lounge is planning. 

“Thank you to everybody who comes by and uses the space. Hopefully we can continue to support them [students] in having fun throughout their college experience,” said Ribuffo.