{"id":81685,"date":"2017-11-16T13:23:22","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T12:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=81685"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:53","slug":"competitive-gaming-requires-as-much-focus-as-formula-1-racing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2017\/11\/16\/competitive-gaming-requires-as-much-focus-as-formula-1-racing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Competitive gaming requires as much focus as Formula-1 racing\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Club secretary Alwin Knop, 22, plays the FIFA football game in the UL\u2019s meeting room.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack Parker<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Until quite recently, Erasmus eSports was a students\u2019 sports club without its own practice grounds. However, starting from this week, the club\u2019s approximately thirty members will be able to play together in the University Library every Monday evening, in order to practise for competitions and tournaments. The Internet is fast at the UL, unlike other places on campus, where gaming laptops and heavy bandwidth consumption may result in power outages.<\/p>\n

And so about ten students (mostly male) sit in front of their laptops in a meeting room at the UL, completely immersed in what is on their screens. They are not studying, but rather trying the beat the \u2018enemy base\u2019 in the League of Legends video game.<\/p>\n

Power cut<\/h3>

Finding a new location was no easy task. It took the club an entire year. \u201cThe department responsible for on-campus room rental was afraid there would be power blackouts if we were to descend on a classroom with all of our laptops,\u201d says the club\u2019s treasurer, Economics student Davy Pande Iroot.<\/p>\n

Eventually, UL Managing Director Matthijs van Otegem decided to allow the club to use a room at the UL. Says Van Otegem: \u201cThe UL is open until quite late, and it is a new building with good facilities, so why not?\u201d The undecorated and unatmospheric room in the UL is not a spectacular venue, but that does not stop the club\u2019s secretary, Business Information Management master student Alwin Knop, 22, from being happy with it.<\/p>\n

Knop feels the room they have been granted will provide them with new opportunities. \u201cNow that we can use this space, we have something to offer our members. At present we are mainly trying to attract the attention of casual gamers, students who are not quite as fanatical as the hardcore gamers but do often play, say, the FIFA football game.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Erasmus eSports members playing the League of Legends video game, which they can play online together. <\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack Parker<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

University league<\/h3>

For now, their strategy does not really appear to be working. The club mainly consists of die-hards who play League of Legends, a video game in which teams of five players play other teams in a virtual world, every day.<\/p>\n

EUR students take on other students from, say, Delft or Eindhoven Universities of Technology in nation-wide tournaments, in which thousands of euros are up for grabs. Furthermore, a university eSports league has been established, whose games will soon be able to be viewed on FOX Sports \u2013 proof that eSports are quite popular in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Davy Pande Iroot, the club\u2019s treasurer, blocks out the world around him so as to be better able to focus on his game.<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJack Parker<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Formula 1<\/h3>

But eSports are not exactly unknown abroad either. This is obvious from the fact that about half of the club\u2019s members are international students. \u201cThe working language in gaming is English. For this reason, I think we will be able to attract even more international students in the future,\u201d predicts Pande Iroot. Nevertheless, despite the global popularity of eSports, many people do not consider them real sports.<\/p>\n

Of course, Knop does not agree with this assessment. He posits a remarkable idea: \u201cIt\u2019s nearly impossible to explain. You have to play the games yourself to experience what it\u2019s like. The level of focus you need to play a game at a competitive level is comparable to the focus you need to drive a Formula-1 car. The mental aspect is essential.\u201d<\/p>\n

read more about sports<\/h2>