UAlbany Hosts Student Gamers for SUNY Esports Tournament

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 21, 2025) — The University at Albany hosted the first in-person SUNY Esports Tournament on Friday and Saturday from inside its 4,000-square-foot gaming arena on the Uptown Campus.

The tournament brought together more than 120 student players from 16 SUNY campuses to compete in seven video games, including Guilty Gear Strive, Marvel Rivals, Overwatch, Rocket League, Smash Ultimate, Street Fighter 6 and Valorant. 

The SUNY Esports League, part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, includes teams from SUNY colleges and universities across the state. More than 2,000 student players compete. Additionally, the league helps student players grow within the esports industry, connect with coaches, and develop skills and networks that will empower them to thrive after graduation.

“Esports aren’t simply fun, they are also an emerging industry that provides good jobs to competitors, casters, coaches, designers, and support staff,” said SUNY Chancellor King. “SUNY is an innovative and world-class higher educational system, and that is why we have worked to prepare students for successful, and thrilling, careers in the gaming and esports industry. I congratulate all of the SUNY student competitors on being a part of this esports tournament.” 

“We built a 4,000-square-foot gaming arena to meet the growing needs of UAlbany Esports, which is among the country’s largest collegiate competitive video gaming programs,” added UAlbany President Havidán Rodríguez. “I was so thrilled to share this space for the first in-person SUNY Esports finals. Our state-of-the-art facility is allowing students to become even more engaged in the rapidly growing gaming industry.”

In 2022, UAlbany announced plans to build a new gaming facility on the Uptown Campus to meet the growing needs of UAlbany Esports.

The arena launched in September and features an open space with 36 Lenovo Legion T7 gaming PCs, each with a 240Hz refresh rate and 1-ms response time. It also has two casual gaming areas, a broadcast and media content creation room for students covering live esports events, and a large spectator area for fans. The console stations are equipped with PlayStation 5s and Nintendo Switches.

Along with competitive team practices and matches, the arena is open to general student use between 5 and 10 p.m. daily. 

Those interested in learning more about UAlbany Esports can email [email protected].

Photos by Mario Sotomayor