Recently, the world of video gaming has been expanding exponentially in both popularity and recognition. Kurt Melcher, associate athletic director and e-sports coordinator for Robert Morris University (RMU) in Chicago, has taken strides to integrate the developing world of e-sports into the competitive world of collegiate athletics. After careful research and the approval of university administration, Melcher launched the first ever athletic scholarship program for students who excel at video games.

“E-sports are just going to get bigger,” Melcher said. “[They are] not going to replace any kind of traditional sports, but [they] will be a part of the sports landscape.”

According to Melcher, e-sports are competitive, online video games. Though they lack the cardiovascular exertion of traditional athletics, e-sports require the same level of mental focus and teamwork. The e-sports program at RMU consists of varsity and junior varsity teams, part-time coaches and an impressive e-sports arena. Twenty-five varsity and 24 junior varsity players are awarded scholarships amounting to 70 percent and 35 percent of their tuition respectively.

“[Granting athletic scholarships for video gamers] is a very forward-thinking move on their part,” Tom Oeltgen ’16 said. “I am interested to see how quickly other schools, especially bigger schools, follow suit.”

In May of 2015, six members of RMU’s varsity e-sports team competed in the North American Collegiate Championship for League of Legends held in Los Angeles. After a decisive victory over the University of Connecticut, the team was defeated by the University of British Columbia, still earning second of 1,600 collegiate League of Legends teams and taking home $15,000 per player in scholarship money.

In addition to League of Legends, RMU offers scholarships for Dota 2, Counter Strike and Hearthstone, all of which have lucrative national and international tournaments.

“I am in the top 1 percent of 30 million players in Hearthstone, so I am very interested in entering this tournament,” Oeltgen said.

RMU is becoming the cornerstone of progression in the realm of collegiate video gaming. Since the advent of its video gaming scholarships, many universities have reached out to inquire, and potentially adopt, their model, Melcher said.

“E-sports are on an upward incline,” he said. “In the next 10 years, we will probably see some form of e-sports in the Olympics.”

Although the world of video gaming is beginning to espouse a reputation of pure competition, for many, playing video games delves much deeper.

“For me, video games are a great distraction from any stress that is going on in my life,” Oeltgen said. “Once I start playing I forget about anything that has been bothering me, and I just focus on the game.”