“Gaming is for everybody PERIOD!” Has turn out to be the motto of the narratives of all the varied efforts out of OU’s Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation division (OU ECCI). From the gamer group that compromises the three,800+ member OU Gaming Membership (OUGC) to the 170+ member developments of OU Esports competitors, Sooner Esports media efforts, and the OUGC occasions and venue employees, OU ECCI has all the time aimed to cowl the total unfold of alternatives in gaming and esports alike.
At the moment, OU ECCI broadcasts a partnership with McDonald’s Gaming aimed toward supporting their latest occasion collection branded The Sooner Dojo Collection (SDS), SDS represents OU ECCI’s efforts to develop year-round public dealing with programming that requires scholar payroll, pay to enter occasions, tangible prize swimming pools, and an emphasis to additionally carry reside manufacturing assets on-line because it matures. In August 2024, ECCI launched SDS with 4 occasion collection protecting Chess, Smash Bros., Preventing Video games, and EA’s Faculty Soccer 2025. These choose titles and focuses come from months and years of executing free occasions to OU’s group and have confirmed to have consistency and stability to raise it into open to the general public occasion alternatives.
“Sooner Dojo Collection is a step in the proper course for growing occasions with a effectively structured basis and skeleton, enabling a wide range of tournaments and occasions which are fascinating not solely to the College of Oklahoma’s campus, however your complete public. Avid gamers wish to sport, so let’s give them the chance whereas nonetheless emphasizing the significance of group! Group and competitors usually are not mutually unique.” stated Jacob “Oculus” Ross, OU OUGC Group & Labs Supervisor and OU MBA Graduate Assistant.
The Sooner Dojo Collection occasions be a part of the preexisting seven years of group “in-house” occasions geared in direction of free to attend, OU scholar solely, and extra informal occasion sorts which were the core power behind the huge 3,800+ member OUGC. SDS occasions current the chance of leveraging different curricular and experiential growth pathways to assist the broad panorama inside gaming and esports alternatives. Whereas many view “gaming” as simply enjoying the sport, these within the house know that logistics, IT, artistic media manufacturing, advertising and marketing, promoting, strategic planning, and organizational management are simply a few of the few skillsets wanted to make this business operate and get additional stabilized. As a part of ECCI’s mission, constructing upon established areas of examine creates a various and effectively rounded base of scholars who can take what they’re studying within the classroom and use ECCI packages as a possibility to use what they’re studying additional constructing their experiences in preparation of commencement and entrance into the job market.
“The Sooner Dojo Collection is for the group, from the group. With SDS, we’re offering avid gamers a spot to play their favourite video games, meet avid gamers from throughout, and foster lasting, significant connections by means of gaming. Going ahead, our objective is to unify extra avid gamers within the frequent floor all of us share: the love for gaming.” stated Ceren “nondragon” Derya, OUGC Group & Labs Occasion Coordinator and Turkish Worldwide OU English Scholar.
The McDonald’s partnerships ensures The Sooner Dojo Collection of occasions’ intention of additional growing scholar skillsets in occasion planning and facilitation proceed to develop whereas offering extra alternatives for gaming cultures in and out of doors of OU. It additionally lays the muse for future exploration of deeper partnership alignments in competitors, media growth, and upcoming ECCI initiatives as they turn out to be viable. The first objective of this partnerships is broaden McDonald’s potential to achieve into gaming communities whereas supporting ECCI’s objectives of catering the identical demographics.
Search for quick perks in preexisting SDS occasions within the Fall on the calendar at https://ou.edu/esports/occasions as effectively upcoming but to be introduced sorts starting from new one off LANs, regional tournaments, and extra.
In regards to the Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation DepartmentWith growth originating in 2016, the OU ECCI Division was based on the premise of unity by means of video video games with a path to business focus. It serves because the inclusive house for all avid gamers from informal to aggressive alike.
