The University of Maryland is set to open a new esports studio in the Cambridge Community Center this year.
The first plan for a new facility was announced in early 2023. The studio will include equipment for Terps Esports and gamers at all proficiency levels with the goal of keeping the esports community alive, said Sergio Brack, this university’s esports director.
The studio’s soft opening is expected for this fall, Brack said, and the grand opening will be held in the spring.
The university previously planned to build the new esports studio in the space of the former North Campus Dining Hall, but abandoned it because the building wouldn’t be able to safely support all the esports equipment.
“When that facility didn’t come to fruition, we just took that as a sign that we have to keep going, and we have to keep looking for a possible space, understanding limitations involving general building space on campus,” Brack said.
Erica Javadpour, Terps Esports’ creative and informational lead, said this university is in the process of remodeling the Cambridge Community Center for the studio.
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In partnership with the journalism college, Terps Esports already has a broadcast studio in Knight Hall that includes five esports gaming stations and four production stations.
The program, part of University Recreation and Wellness, also has a practice room in Ritchie Coliseum. But after the new facility is finished, equipment in that space will be moved and it will no longer be used, Javadpour said.
Brack said he hopes the new studio will allow the program to expand its facilities, provide a new environment for students to game and be a more open space for collaboration and learning across campus.
“We really wanted this space to be multipurpose and to be a space where people can come and just gain the community they wanted, but also where people can come and generally learn skills and take tangible things with them on their journey through college,” he said.
The new facility is set to include amenities such as 20 general PCs, a showcase area with 10 stations, four TVs with couches for console gaming and a private training room for the esports teams.
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About 60 students at this university are part of teams through the esports program, Brack said, while a much larger community at this university games leisurely.
“There’s no telling how vast that number is on campus,” he said.
William Mayer,a junior criminology and criminal justice major and member of the program’s Terps Rocket League, said he’s happy about the opening of a new studio.
Mayer emphasized that the opening of a new studio shows that the university cares about the esports community .
“It means a lot to me because I’ve always liked going somewhere and playing,” he said. “Putting this much time into building another place to play, [the university is] still supporting us in a way.”
Brack acknowledges that while students may have had frustrations over delays, those pains will be carried into the efforts of the new facility.
“I feel your pain, and all that pain is cultivated into this facility and this moment,” Brack said.
