The Loyola esports program, headed by coach Lumen Vera, is dedicated to helping students succeed inside and outside of the esports community.
“Matches have been going well,” Vera said. “We won one and lost one. The teams are playing better this season.”
The Loyola teams compete in “Overwatch 2” and “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.” Competitors train 10-15 hours a week, and while winning is good, the main focus of the program has been “to learn and grow,” Vera said.
“Winning is a luxury and a result of good practice,” he said. “The program’s goal is to have students use esports as a vehicle to pursue their careers, whether in esports or something else.”
Kaleb Moore, a freshman cybersecurity major, said being part of the team has been a great opportunity for him.
“Esports gives me good experience with technology and how to run and manage all of it behind the scenes,” Moore said. “It also helped me to grow my social skills. Making new friends with the same interest built upon teamwork and communication.”
The esports space recently hosted the New Orleans branch of the Global Game Jam, a three-day open invitation event. The game jam is an event where programmers, artists, and designers get together to plan and execute a brand-new video game. The organizers were New Orleans Gamedev, a local meetup professional group, who aim to help create support networks for students interested in making games.
The theme for this year’s jam was “roots,” and was up for interpretation by the jammers. Some made games based on gardening, and others approached from a different perspective like horror.
It’s like a musical jam, “except instead of instruments, each person brings their unique talents to the jam,” a video from the jam’s website has said.
The team will play again on March 7, when they match up against Irvine Valley College in Overwatch 2.