The move expands the focus on esports and gaming in the Worcester area.
The Massachusetts Digital Games Institute — a statewide center for academic cooperation, entrepreneurship and economic development within Massachusetts’ video game ecosystem — moved to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 2021 after the closure of Becker College.
The shuttered college was known for its game design program. It was the first school in the country to offer an esports management degree and the first in the state to offer varsity esports scholarships.
The game design program ranked top five in the world from 2016 to 2019.
WPI also offered its students a game design program, starting its Interactive Media and Game Development (IMGD) program in 2004. The program is one of the country’s first undergraduate degree programs in game design.
Former director and coach of esports at Providence College, Zachary Gandara, will direct and coach Anna Maria’s program, according to a press release from the school.
Gandara has a winning history, making 18 post-conference appearances that included two Eastern College Athletic Conference championships.
“Esports brings competition and school spirit to a previously untapped fan base and extends our reach to a national scene,” Gandara said, “Right now, we are in the process of developing and equipping an esports facility on campus and recruiting students for our fall team. We plan to come out swinging.”
The team will start off playing VALORANT, “a teen-rated fantasy simulation of competing superpowers, ghosts, and robots,” according to the release.
Hugh Drummond, a spokesperson for the school, said they chose VALORANT because its developer Riot Games is one of the most successful esports developers in the world and “they are certainly the most successful in the collegiate scene.”
VALORANT is also a relatively new game which makes it easier to recruit talented student players for it over more established games, according to Drummond.
Riot’s Collegiate Esports will run its first-ever “Collegiate VALORANT” competition this fall.
Drummond also said the school is sticking to teen-rated or lower games for anything they are endorsing as varsity.
The school still hasn’t chosen a conference, but the Big East has nine Catholic Colleges out of its 11 members.
“When deciding on how to expand, their esports board decided to draw the line using the ESRB rating method of Teen,” Drummond said. “This way, there are quantifiable variables on what is considered appropriate, rather than having to review every game.”
Gandara said esports players learn teamwork, time management, physical game and mental focus skills in addition to learning to understand and maintain their equipment.
“Anna Maria College and Anna Maria Athletics is excited to add esports as a new program on campus,” Athletic Director Joseph Brady said, “Esports is growing rapidly in popularity across many colleges. The addition of this program for Anna Maria opens the door to new prospective students who want to compete in online gaming.”
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