Star Players
Oklahoma City University's new Starcade Gaming Arena brings competitive Esports, scholarships, and a degree program to the leafy campus quad.
BY Jezy Gray
STEPPING INTO THE Starcade Gaming Arena at Oklahoma City University feels like entering another world. Just off the leafy campus quad on the lower floor of the Sarkeys Science and Math Center, the sleek new home of the school’s emerging Esports program is a cavern of screens and neon lights evoking the visual environment of the 1982 film Tron.
The new facility is serving students for the first time this semester, bringing competitive video gameplay to a new level at the private university. On a given afternoon, the Starcade is peppered with students getting in a round of Super Smash Bros. between classes alongside high-level gamers staying sharp for their next competition, when the place erupts with the high-octane frenzy of college football.
“We’re creating that pathway for a lot of students who’ve never had a space like this before. Now they have a place where they can compete and get scholarships and get a degree [in Esports management],” says Patrick McClung, the head coach of the Esports program. “We can help facilitate that academic transition from high school for people who didn’t have that space, but have dedicated their time to be good at their craft.”
“Being an Esports player gives them a feeling of being on a team: communication, practice, commitment, and dedication,” says program founder and director Jeff Price. “And it’s really open to anybody. You don’t have to be 6-foot-9 to be able to do it well.”