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The times they are a-changing. Anyone requiring some solid proof of that need look no further than the recent announcement by the University of California, Irvine that it will be giving out scholarships to six students skilled at (wait for it) playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the upcoming 2019-2020 school year. Here’s the announcement Tweet straight from UC Irvine’s eSports program:
We are proud to announce that this coming school year, we will be offering scholarships for Super Smash Brothers Ultimate!
We are so excited to support something that is near and dear to the Esports program!
Read more: https://t.co/6Sr2KvEjmZ pic.twitter.com/cSlb8HXVeI
— UCI Esports (@UCIEsports) August 7, 2019
Street Media, a publishing company that belongs to Brian Calle, publisher of LA Weekly, is funding the $50,000 donation to the program. $6,000 apiece will be awarded to six students. Although the six qualifying students won’t have a traditional coach, the endeavor is being treated much like a typical sports scholarship would. The students must maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher and practice 10-15 hours per week at playing Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Beyond practicing, the school will be handling everything from social media presence to providing transport and equipment to these student e-athletes. It’s a truly fascinating development, but considering the proliferation of game design degrees in colleges throughout the country, not to mention how rapidly eSports are growing as a legitimate form of competition, it only makes sense that universities would start to look for an “in” with this sort of initiative.
Mark Deppe is the director of eSports at UC Irvine and had the following to say:
“The ‘Smash’ community at UCI is one of the biggest and most passionate gaming clubs on campus. We are fortunate to be able to offer scholarships to League of Legends and Overwatch players. When a donor emerged with a desire to support one of his favorite games, we knew this was something we had to pursue to create more opportunities for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate student gaming community.”
Are you a student looking to earn a Smash scholarship? Share with us in the comments and on social media!
Source: UC Irvine Esports Twitter account
