Warwick University nominated for international Esports awards

Warwick University's Esports Centre was founded by students in 2017

An Esports hub at the University of Warwick has been nominated for two international awards.

A student Esports society started in 2017 and a dedicated centre opened to the public in 2021, allowing students and locals to compete in online games.

Jack Fenton, the university's head of Esports, said it was great to be recognised by the Esport Awards, held in Las Vegas in December.

"It's basically the Baftas for Esports," he said.

"We're a first-mover in this space and an innovator, but we're the only university to have a public facing facility like this."

The Esports Awards will be hosted in Las Vegas on 13 December

Warwick University is the only British institution to be nominated in a field which is otherwise dominated by American universities.

"There's a lot more funding for this sort of thing in America," Mr Fenton said. "It's rarely even seen in Europe."

Competitive gaming was included as a pilot event at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games for the first time this year, with hopes it may become a full medal event in the future.

• 'Esports needs the same focus as physical events'

• Young gamers compete before Games pilot

• England esports team 'at top of their game'

With 22 high-powered gaming PCs, gaming consoles and VR headsets, the centre has hosted a number of major tournaments.

Mr Fenton said the university had almost 1,800 registered centre users and had worked with more than 700 young people who were not in employment.

"We've used Esports and digital skills as a way to lift them up and get them into jobs, careers or back into education when they've been a bit down," he said.

"It's amazing to use this facility as a platform to lift up the next generation."

The university has been nominated for Esports Collegiate Programme of the Year and Mr Fenton for Esports Collegiate Ambassador of the Year.

"The growth over the past year has been crazy," he said. "Being in this position is a huge privilege and I think it's a reward for what we've done, not just with our students, but with the community."