Since 2016, we've worked to build relationships with peers in the region and entities inside of OU for space utilization. During the Fall 2023 semester we quietly started using our development clinic space while we worked on the lounge for the campus. All of the needs in our spaces will tie back to the intentional design of all our pillars and programs and then scale up over time.
Get ready! The start of the physical home for OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation is here!
The OU Esports & Gaming Complex, comprised of the Esports & Gaming Lounge and Developmental Clinic, serves the whole of the University of Oklahoma’s gaming community and beyond. These spaces are the result of the goals of student and staff gamers at OU since 2016. While we have quietly launched aspects of this space, in Spring of 2024 we bring the lounge side online making the complex fully functional for the first time as we open the doors for daily operations. Make sure to click the "Full Details" buttons if you're interested in all the specifications and intentions of our complex spaces.
The OU Esports & Gaming Lounge is accessible to everyone at different times of the week, please reference our "Hours of Operation". During M-F operations we are exclusively open to the OU campus students, faculty, staff, and campus partners. On Saturday and Sunday we are open to the public. This does include game days as well. We have compiled a frequently asked questions sections further down the page, but do not hesitate to shoot us an email if you have further questions.
LOCATED on the East side of Cross Building B facing Jenkins Avenue. 114 4th Street, Suite 126B, Norman, OK 73019 - Google Maps Link
PHONE 405.325.4384
EMAIL esports@ou.edu
Interested in reserving our space, putting on a gaming event in your area, or using our production services for any type of event? Then take a moment and fill out our reservation inquiry form and we will get coordinated to bring your event to life. This includes RSO, campus departments, individuals, and public parties.
We recommend submitting your reservation request 7 days before your desired date. While we can facilitate short turnarounds it reduces your chances of availability and lowest cost sensitivity. Reservation consideration is available any day and time throughout the year.
FREE PLAY FOR ALL STUDENTS THROUGH AUGUST 31, 2025
(STUDENTS ONLY) To welcome in the new year we are remaining free until the first week of school is over!
On top of hourly usage rates for the public and general usage, we are launching membership packages for students, staff, faculty, and campus partners alike for Fall 2024 and on!
| ALL PARTIES | (STUDENT/ALUMNI/STAFF) OU GAMING CLUB VIP MEMBER |
DEVELOPMENT STUDENT MEMBER | |
| COST (ALL PRICES INCLUDE TAX) |
N/A | $140/yr or $70/semester |
$70/yr |
| WHO | All Parties | Students, Faculty, Staff, & Campus Partners (Norman Only) |
Student Only (Norman, HSC, Tulsa dependent on role) |
| DISCORD ACCESS | Yes + OU Channels | Yes + OU Channels + VIP Perks | Yes + OU Channels + VIP Perks |
| PREREQUISITES & WHERE TO SIGNUP | No prereqs | Must be registered OU Gaming Club Member (Free). VIP membership paid for in lounge ONLY (Can do both in lounge) |
Must be OU Gaming Access Member. Apply for positions in general registration application (Development positions only available at beginning of each semester) |
| PERSONAL LAB USAGE TIME (Only consumed when using gaming stations, free if just hanging out or using your own device) |
$2/hr |
UNLIMITED *(Does not pertain to paid events, or private reservations that may close the facility for that duration) |
LAB STAFF UNLIMITED OTHER DEVELOPMENT STUDENTS $2/hr or UNLIMITED if purchased membership |
| USAGE FOR DEVELOPMENT FUNCTIONS |
N/A | N/A | Included regardless of membership (ex. team functions, practices, scrimmages, departmental meetings) |
| CLUTCH SERIES CAMPUS INTRAMURALS |
$20/per league | 1 league per semester included. $20 per additional league. | 1 league per semester included. $20 per additional league. |
| SOONER DOJO SERIES PUBLIC EVENTS | $10 per event | 3 Dojo events covered per semester or up to 6 anytime with annual membership. Then $10 per additional Dojo event. | 3 Dojo events covered per semester or up to 6 anytime with annual membership. Then $10 per additional Dojo event. |
| ALL IN-HOUSE / COMMUNITY EVENTS | FREE TO ATTEND | ||
| MERCHANDISE | No | T-Shirt + lanyard included (Design for the year) |
|
| NINTENDO NETWORK FUNCTIONALITY (The only place on campus your Nintendo Switch fully works online) |
No | Yes, 1 Personal Device | |
| RIOT CAMPUS UNLOCKED |
Yes, all stations in our lounge | ||
| COMPUTER CONNECTION DISCOUNTS (Alumni owned OKC based custom PC builder) |
No | 10% off all single components 5% off custom builds |
|
| GUESTROOM RECORDS DISCOUNTS (Alumni owned Norman/OKC based Vinyl & Music Procurer) | No | $10% off sales, ability to influence orders for limited run pressings periodically. | |
| ACCOUNT EXPIRATION | Re-Register Every July | Membership runs from July to December for semester mebers or June to June for annual members. Membership expires every June 30. Paid hours NEVER expire. | |
| VALUE | N/A | Over $4000/yr!!!!!!!! | |
Only students, faculty, staff, alumni, and campus partners can register to be an "OU Gaming Club Access Member" while the "VIP Member" includes the same minus alumni. For "Access" members you can register by joining our Discord. For "VIP" members you have to stop in the lounge during our hours of operation to get signed up and pay for your membership. Join our Discord!
We currently use Clover for our processing and this enables everything from all major credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Wallet, PayPal, Venmo, cash, and even checks! (If you remember what those things are.)
We are working to enable the ability to prepay using a web portal for time, merch, memberships, and any other function we have for the lounge before even arriving.
Any person or group and request to reserve our space. All reservations are subject to further questions and considerations.
100% of lounge, membership, and reservation fees are exclusively earmarked to fuel student payroll and resources. Other funding sources, sponsorships, and donations are used for departmental staffing past student employees, travel, training, and maintenance.
For general use, Saturdays and Sundays are open to the public. Certain events throughout the year will be open to the public.
Head to our events page or you can join our Discord and/or follow our socials.
Absolutely NOT, your team functions like scrims, practices, formal meetings, and team functions are part of your development obligation to OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation. The above mentioned time is for "PERSONAL" usage meaning when you, the individual, wants to just come in and game whenever you want separate from your team functions and obligations.
Please check our hours of operations at the top of this page. Monday through Friday the lounge is exclusively available to OU students, faculty, staff, & campus partners ONLY. On Saturday and Sunday we do open up the lounge to the public too. Aside from that, there are no further prerequisites to come in. If you are an OU member please ensure you have your SoonerCard ID, eaccounts mobile app logged in, or be able to verify you are a member of the OU collective.
We automatically bake in 5 minutes from when you login to when the time usage starts ticking down. If you have issues, it's ok! Just explain what's happening to our lab staff and they'll work with you. We want you to feel at home in our spaces and that also means when things happen, we can work through them, but speak up if something comes up so we can know ASAP.
Nintendo uses very common network ports which are very prone to security vulnerabilities. OU is an high level research campus on top of a public institution and to remain complaint as well as protect our infrastructure from top to bottom much of OU's network is locked down and protected against past and present cybersecurity threats.
The Nintendo perk represents the only place on campus where OU Provided WIFI allows for full multiplayer and network capability for Nintendo Switches. VIP members only as OU Esports & Co-Curricular Innovation specifically funds and enables this 3rd party service on OU campus with the support, approval, and collaboration with OU IT.
Good question! Only one person will need to be signed in and paying that hourly rate! If we detect any account sharing beyond this level, we will take action including an account suspension or ban.
Yes! We want everyone to be comfortable in the lounge, and if that means playing on your own device, do it! However, depending on where you get setup, we'll need you to pay our hourly rate/have a membership. If you're just playing on your handheld device and chilling in the lounge, perfect! We also have 3 workstations that are Switch Dock & HDMI capable, and those are available for FREE on first-come first-serve basis. If you get setup at any other station in the lounge, you will need to sign in to SENET.
"In the spirit of helping foster League of Legends communities on high school and college campuses, Riot will be granting access to League Unlocked to approved computers as part of the Campus League Unlocked program. Schools can apply and, once approved, any player who plays on those machines will receive access to all League of Legends champions, a collection of skins, as well as an XP boost. These rewards are specific to the location, so players will need to play on a registered computer to receive them!" - Riot Games
Our Lounge is Campus League Unlocked!
Of course! Everyone plays and gets comfortable with their own input devices. All we ask is you respect our peripherals when you move them out of the way and then you move them back when you’re done. You can also ask our staff to disconnect ours for you if you’d like. We want you to feel comfortable and welcome in our spaces as priority one!
We always want OUr gamers to feel welcome and included! If you own a game that isn’t installed and want to use our space and hardware to play, then simply install it when you come in. All popular game launchers are preinstalled, just login to your account and install. We do not actively wipe our storage unless we need to free up space for basic functions or if we need to host an event with specific games and need the space.
For us, an arena is a space that celebrates competition and in that intent sacrifices some square footage to create a space that is often not used for it’s full intent many times in a single school year. With our growing list of partners on campus, if we need bigger spaces to put on an event like a tournament or competition with a stage we have more than enough places across campus to leverage for those one-off events that typically don’t exceed more than 10-20 times a year. This remains true even in our upcoming renovation intent and why we call this a lounge that can deploy some additional seating for real small events, but with stadiums down the street, ballrooms up the street, and our previously designed Black Box Theater (BBT) in the adjacent Cross building, we have plenty of resources for showcase events in the future.
We are currently working on merch for Fall 2025 and on. Stay tuned!
At this time we do not, and we do not allow food and open drink to be consumed at our desk stations. Around the corner and through the courtyard are numerous restaurants in Cross A & C. As a rule for drinks. We only allow containers that are sealable on the top, but we strongly recommend you place them on the floor next to your station or in your bag to avoid any problems. Things happen, but that will not excuse any damage to our inventory.
The Esports & Gaming Lounge is designed to be our community space with full day operations and open to the entire campus. During select events and timing of the year it will also be open to peer K-12/collegiate peers, friends and fans of the university, and specific audiences such as tailgates, weekly & monthly events, and other unique programming.
This is where the work happens: representing our program in competitions, managing live gameplay production, personal streaming, or crafting articles, press releases, and media for this very website. It’s the business end of our operations, where casual gaming gives way to the goal-oriented world of esports.
GamerHaus is a living learning community for first-year students focused around using gaming as the entry point to OU. The community is located within the same building as the OU Esports & Gaming Complex.
Dens are used every week for team development across all of our programs. This includes collaboration meetings, VoD review for competitive teams, and coworking space for productivity.
Originally a planned space by the now defunct ONE U tech store on campus and our Director back in 2016-2017, this space was designed for BYOC "Bring your own computer" events, console tournaments, and small sized esports events. During its first year in 2018, we hosted the inaugural Bedlam series as well as end of year event programming inside it. Below is an example of how we leverage this space for exhibitions and showcase matches like Bedlam.
In June 2023, The OU Board of Regents approved our project proposal to design a renovation place for the spaces below. As a quick action measure we worked through Summer 2023 and early 2024 to bring the spaces online as a preview of whats to come and retrofit two spaces for our immediate needs.
OU Esports:
OU Gaming Club: