After two years with out a house, Brown Esports opens gaming lounge in Brown Bookstore

Mario Kart, Overwatch, Valorant, League of Legends, Marvel Rivals: These are simply a few of the video video games out there to play at Brown Esports’ new gaming lounge, positioned on the second flooring of the Brown bookstore. After over two years with out a bodily house, the membership opened their new lounge on Jan. 24.

Olivia Fong ’27, co-president of Brown Esports, stated that the lounge — which is open to all Brown and RISD neighborhood members — goals to domesticate neighborhood and connection, particularly following the Dec. 13 mass capturing.

“After everything that happened in December, we wanted to provide a space for people to come together,” she stated. She added that the membership hopes to supply a bodily house the place folks can “share common interests” and “just have a good time.”

Since gaming gear, like PCs, are sometimes costly, the lounge additionally goals to extend “accessibility” for college kids that could be inquisitive about enjoying video video games however lack monetary sources, in keeping with Fong.

The lounge will probably be open till May and operates in the course of the bookstore’s hours. Inside, guests can discover a number of private computer systems and Nintendo switches.

Brown Esports beforehand had a lease with Brown Bookstore from 2022 to 2023. Prior to that, they operated an identical lounge on the Brown-RISD Hillel, in keeping with Co-President Yoyo Ren ’27. For the previous two years, although, all their gear has been in storage, Fong added.

“In order to host events, we had to set everything up from scratch every time,” Ren stated. “That would take like three hours by itself, taking that down,” which broken a variety of gear within the course of, he added.

Because of this, Brown Esports has skilled a notable decline in membership engagement, he stated. Ren famous that discovering a bodily house was “almost necessary to the prospect of building an actual community.”

Around two weeks after the lounge opened, Fong and Ren stated over 100 college students had already used the house. Over 50 college students got here to the lounge’s grand opening, they added.

The membership plans to host extra occasions within the lounge this semester, together with “Saturday Spotlight,” the place college students collect to play one featured sport for a few hours, in keeping with Fong. Ren stated that the lounge can also be open to golf equipment which can be inquisitive about utilizing the house to host occasions, although none have requested it but.

Jason Covey ’26, a member of the occasions committee for Brown Esports, stated the membership needs “the space to really open up gaming up to more people” and present them it’s “valuable.”

There are additionally social advantages to the in-person gaming expertise the lounge offers, Ren stated. “Playing games with other people in person is much healthier mentally than if you’re playing in your room by yourself,” in keeping with Ren.

Kyujin Han, a first-year scholar at RISD, just lately visited the lounge for the primary time and stated he appreciated the chance to play in-person.

“It’s more fun to play around friends,” Han stated, including that there aren’t any technical difficulties concerned with enjoying with others in-person fairly than just about.

Brown Esports permits guests to request that the membership obtain new video games, which Han stated he appreciates. He stated he plans to return to the lounge with others sooner or later.

Fong and Ren stated they’re hoping to discover a extra everlasting house for an esports lounge after this semester. Demonstrating scholar engagement and demand for the lounge will hopefully assist that purpose, Fong stated.

“Our goal is to show that this space is a really important thing to have in the community,” Covey stated. “Not just for Brown Esports, but for the larger Brown community.”