You Can Now Get A Scholarship To UC Irvine Just For Playing Overwatch

 University of California Irvine adds Overwatch to eSports scholarship program

Overwatch


Know how your mom always told you that you’re wasting your time playing hours upon hours upon hours of video games? Well, she may have to eat crow if you are a top Overwatch player because you can now get a scholarship just for playing video games. Beginning in fall of 2017, the University of California Irvine will begin offering a scholarship for top Overwatch players.

Those talented gamers who are selected for the program will receive yearly financial aid of $2,500 to cover tuition fees. The program will also provide lucky recipients with dedicated coaching, analysis staff, personal training, a team psychologist, and unlimited access to UCI’s eSports arena. These benefits come in exchange for a commitment to “15-20 hours per week during the season to practice, team meetings, community service, workouts, and competitions.”

“We are very excited to take this next step in growing our scholarship program for top gamers who are also strong students and great members of our community,” said Mark Deppe, Acting Director of UCI eSports. “We look forward to connecting the excitement generated by our competitive teams to advance efforts along our other pillars: Academics, Community and Entertainment.”

“It’s one of the most popular games at UCI and in the general eSports world,” Deppe said. “Secondly, it has a great collegiate league run by Tespa. Thirdly, the developer — Bizzard — supports competitive play with in-game tools, multiple viewing options, player ranking systems, etc.”

Current and incoming students may apply for the program and tryouts will take place over the summer. Overwatch is actually the second game that UC Irvine has offered an eSports scholarship to. Last fall, UCI’s eSports program began offering scholarships for outstanding players of League of Legends. What are you still doing reading this? Go back to your room and practice playing Overwatch so you can get a scholarship. And don’t listen to your mother, keep playing video games.

[Engadget]