Saint Mary's launches Huskies Esports Arena

Saint Mary's University is excited to announce the launch of Huskies Esports, in collaboration with Enterprise Information Technology.

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Saint Mary's Huskies Esports will launch for the Fall 2022 semester. This constitutes another student-centric opportunity that will focus on an intentful approach to post-secondary gaming for our students and the greater SMU community. The program will have a home in the Esports Arena at the heart of campus in the McNally East basement. Esports will be implemented with a two-pronged in approach, creating competitive Huskies esports teams in various gaming titles and simultaneously offering an internal recreational opportunity for on-campus connection through gaming.

What is esports? Simply put, competitive video games. Sometimes referred to as 'competitive gaming', 'pro gaming', or 'egaming'. Esports has seen a huge surge in popularity and professionalism in recent years, and is now considered to be a billion dollar global industry.

Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, with athletes competing individually or as teams. This can be through structured leagues, competitive circuits, or tournament play, for the purpose of entertainment, prizes or money.

Key stats:

• Over 23 million Canadians play video games
• The average Canadian gamer is 34 years old
• Canada's video game industry has grown into one of the world's largest and most successful
• 937 active video game studios in Canada.
• The video game industry adds $4.5 billion annually to Canada's GDP

U SPORTS Gaming:

In July 2021, U SPORTS, the national brand of university sports in Canada, announced a groundbreaking three-year partnership with CSL Esports, operator of Canada's largest collegiate esports league.

Currently, 22 U SPORTS member institutions have active teams participating in various CSL leagues.

The CSL recently announced a partnership wit the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) to establish the NACE Starleague, which will become the largest collegiate esports league in North America, with more than 14,500 students from 600 colleges and universities.

Girls Who Game Initiative :
Saint Mary's Huskies Esports is committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment and this includes specific teams and gaming nights for students who identify as girls and women. Opportunities can also be pursued in the Girls Who Game Initiative by Dell Technologies Canada. Girls Who Game | Dell Technologies Canada

For more information, reach out via email at esports@smu.ca