Some people think of gaming as a fun hobby that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Still, this is not the case for these kids as they play video games competitively with games such as Overwatch, League of Legends, Valorant, and mainly team-based games. ESports is a competitive gaming team representing Nixa High School with a JV and varsity team. 

   “We are getting six new PCs, six new monitors, keyboards, mice, and chairs,” said Assistant eSports coach Hannah Martin.

   This equipment was gathered with funding from the school and a $40 fee from the participants in the team.

   Some people may not understand the impact that the equipment has on the players. If it isn’t always up to date, the players may run worse than the team they are playing against, giving the opposing team an advantage in the game.

   “In games like these, every frame that your computer can handle counts,” Martin said. “And if your computer can not run these games you could not play at the same levels as these other schools can.”

   The current computers that they have are equipped with an MSI GT 710 2GD3 LP Graphics Card And some standard cooling fans, with the new PCs they will have an MSI NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 Graphics Card. 

   On average, $1,000-$2,500 is spent on eSports equipment per competitive player every year. Considering there are over 20 people in the Nixa High School eSports program, new equipment isn’t acquired very often.

   “I’m excited about it, and everyone else is excited about it, and overall I think it is a great thing for the team.” JV eSports player Dante Moss said.

   The new equipment has been shipped piece-by-piece and will continue until all the setups have arrived before December. 

   “We have already gotten our monitors, and we have had better gameplay framerate-wise already, and when the PCs get here I feel they will only work better,” Moss said.