Thursday night at Alumni Park, overshadowed by Matt Bennett and Channel Tres on stage mere steps away, passionate gamers from rival schools came together to compete in a gallery of games. While USC Esports celebrated the coming together of two USC gaming organizations, they were ultimately crushed by UCLA Esports.

In a devastating sweep, the Trojans varsity teams lost in “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,” “Valorant,” “Overwatch 2,” “League of Legends” and “Rocket League.” Players were illuminated by colored lights and flashing screens and decked in their customized jerseys for the event, which was live-streamed on Twitch.

This semester, the competitive play-based Trojan Esports and casual option SC Esports merged to form one student organization: USC Esports. The merger placed two experiences under one banner to serve both competitive varsity players and casual enjoyment in the Esports community at USC.

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USC Esports oversees six varsity teams all competing in games in the Big 10 Esports Conference. Non-varsity students looking for a more supportive role are equally welcome to enjoy the community events and support team efforts. 

Esports manager Joe Jacko said positions like casting, graphic design, photography and management have been integral to the operations of USC Esports, and students from each of the former clubs have stepped up to support the new organization.

“The whole graphics team and the whole casting team,” Jacko said. “Some of them from [Trojan Esports], some of them from [SC Esports] and ultimately them coming together has just been really good.”

Jami Hah, the USC Esports treasurer and a senior obtaining a bachelor’s degree in applied and computational mathematics as well as a master’s degree in business analytics, has been involved in Esports at the university since her freshman year. A former member of Trojan Esports, Hah said the merger has provided varsity teams with more support to expand their reach as an organization.

“Our side, we were kind of more reserved, very focused on Esports. Let’s win these tournaments. Let’s make it to these tournaments … let’s get this financing done,” Hah said. “We were somewhat lacking [networking and sponsorships] as just, essentially, a bunch of people who are really, really good at video games.”

Between matches on Saturday, USC Esports visited with local professional League of Legends player Robert Huang, also known as Blaber. Jacko said the level of professionalism involved in their organization is helpful to careers in Esports.

“They’re all getting real industry experience, a showcase of what they can do,” Jacko said. “It’s really all transferable.”

Camryn Lee, a co-president and junior majoring in linguistics and East Asian languages and cultures, was the director of partnerships for SC Esports before the merger. She said the new structure of Esports on campus provides a clearer path for students interested in becoming involved in the culture and industry.

“Esports isn’t really so cut-and-dry that you can just go into a class and figure out how the industry works and go up from there with a job,” Lee said. “We just want to give people more of the opportunity… in a setting that’s free and accessible to anybody.”

The club’s new structure allows non-varsity team members to manage and work with the varsity teams closely. Lee said she was impressed with how non-competitive members have taken charge at an organizational level.

“I see so much dedication … from people who aren’t on the competitive teams, but they just put so much of their free time into coming to every single stream, shooting content, doing the graphics,” Lee said. “That’s amazing to see.”

Since the merger, USC Esports has incorporated non-competitive events into its schedule. On Nov. 9, the club hosted a watch party for season 2 of “Arcane.” The club provided free drinks courtesy of Red Bull. Hah said opportunities like this have opened up with additional support for the organization, and they plan to host more.

“It was kind of a big deal, and we actually had a pretty big turnout,” Hah said.

Disclaimer: Aubrie Cole is an Arts & Entertainment Editor at the Daily Trojan and the vice president of USC Esports. She was not involved in any coverage.