In the beginning of October 2020, we officially launched our ENGAGE platform and made it available to end users. The ENGAGE platform is a turnkey program for college and universities with esports programs or who are looking to start one. It provides the hardware, furnishings, support services, and lifecycle management needed to run esports programs in one single subscription that can be upgraded or changed at any time.
To celebrate the launch of the ENGAGE platform, we partnered with the Unified Collegiate Esports Association (UCEA) and hosted a Valorant Tournament. This tournament brought together dozens of collegiate esports teams to play the tactical game. After qualifying rounds, the top 16 teams were granted entry into the final tournament.
In the end, the University of Irvine in Southern California came out victorious, claiming the grand prize of $5,000 and tournament bragging rights.
The tournament was just the first of what we’re expecting to be a massive increase in esports participation in colleges and universities across the country. Especially in a time where universities are searching for COVID-friendly, contact-free ways to engage students on campus and remotely, we expect to see the esports programs started at numerous institutions of all sizes.
We’re seeing more and more colleges and universities adopt esports as a way to recruit and engage a diverse base of students, especially for schools trying to grow their STEM programs and Computer Sciences programs.
The challenge that’s been holding a lot of schools back from following suit and adding an esports program is how to give students what they need to succeed in esports — What’s the best equipment? How can we encourage team collaboration? How can we set our school up for esports without drastic budget additions?
That’s where IVCi’s ENGAGE platform comes in. The AV as a Service offering allows organizations to access the best hardware, services, and maintenance for an esports environment in a monthly subscription format. Agreements can be changed, scaled, or adjusted as necessary to make sure your organization always has what it needs to create the ideal esports environment.
