Esports — competitive video gaming — is one of the fastest growing industries in the world today.

And a lot of people are trying to get a piece of the action.

Slippery Rock University is one of the pioneers for Esports teams’ in western Pennsylvania, after the creation of the school’s Esports club in 2016.

“I have a friend who goes to BC3 (Butler County Community College), and they tried to get an Esports club up and running, but I am not sure how successful it has been because I know it can be difficult,” club Vice President Seth Barnett said.

Originally the League of Legends club, SRU Esports has seen a growth in popularity with the expansion to other video games players have shown interest in, such as Rainbow Six Siege, Call of Duty, Rocket League and more.

“We act as a facilitator of making teams,” Barnett said. “If you want to gather five of your friends and make a team you can, and you can do that quite easily through us.”

Barnett, a junior from Butler, has witnessed the growth first hand, but did address some issues the club faces.

“What comes to mind is exposure,” Barnett said. “Just letting people know we are out here and available for people to come and either meet other people or get into competitive gaming.”

Player vs. player games (PVP), have become one of the most popular video game genres to date, and those types of games leave so much potential for competitive gaming.

“I feel like there are a lot of games you can play competitively,” New Castle native Blu Bartle said. “You kind of just got to show interest for them. We’ll get a lot of freshmen coming in this year and they might join because of League of Legends, but say ‘hey I play this other game, can we try that?’”

Bartle, a junior at SRU, is a member of the League of Legends team.

SRU has entered some of its teams to compete with others across the country. The League of Legends team plays in the Collegiate Star League (CSL), that enters tournaments on the national level.

The competitive nature of video games does allow players to improve fast and efficiently at the games they play from the help of teammates.

“I enjoy the people and the community,” Bartle said. “I always considered myself pretty decent at League of Legends, but working with a team is amazing. I get feedback on the spot. They support you and everything, it’s nice.”

Competition comes with the territory of organized video games, but that is not the number one goal of the Esports club at Slippery Rock.

“Winning isn’t everything, for some people it is,” Barnett said. “I enjoy the competitiveness, but I also enjoy being able to work with other people, communicate and just work as a team.

“I can only see it getting better from here. We’re working on exposure and getting the word out. We’ve learned what it’s like to be an Esports team and how to participate.”