Are you moving to or have already moved into Wales for University and interested in esports? Well, fortunately for you, we’ve got it covered. Over the last few weeks or so, we’ve been in contact with most major Welsh Universities and their respective gaming or esports societies to get an overview of how to get involved. To our knowledge, anything of this nature, particularly for Wales, didn’t exist. And, given we’re the supposed home of Welsh esports, we felt like this was our responsibility to create and promote it from the ground up.
Cardiff University – Cardiff Crusaders Esports
Firstly, we have Cardiff University sitting in the nation’s capital. Cardiff’s esports teams go under the banner of the Cardiff Crusaders, and are one of the larger Welsh Universities for esports. Competing in both the NUEL (The National University Esports League) and NSE (National Student Esports) competitions, they have teams entered across numerous titles including: Counter Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, VALORANT, Overwatch, Rainbow 6: Siege, DOTA 2, Rocket League, and more.
Across these titles, they have some notable achievements under their belt, including their League of Legends team securing a place in the top 8 universities nationwide, as well as their Rainbow 6 team coming 3rd in the latest summer tournament. The Overwatch team, the Stardust Crusaders, equally reached the NUEL playoffs consistently. Furthermore, this year Cardiff are looking to greatly expand their organisation through numerous activities. This year, almost all games will have coaches for their teams, as well as dedicated practice days for scrims, as well as some in-house analysts.
You can find the link to their Discord here.
You can find the link to their Twitter here.
Swansea University – Swansea Esports
By far the largest esports society across Wales, having recently split from their parent Gaming society, Swansea Esports are now a standalone organisation focused on competitive tournaments and leagues.
As of last season, they had multiple Rocket League teams competing in both NUEL, NSE and Belong Arena Clash, 4+ teams in Overwatch with one Belong Arena Clash winning side, a NUEL Championship winning CSGO team alongside 7+ other teams in NUEL and NSE, as well as 7+ teams in League of Legends. Last year, they were ranked 20th nationally in the British University Esports Championship.
You can find the link to their Discord here.
You can find the link to their website here.
You can find the link to their Twitter here.
Bangor University: Bangor University Gaming League
Bangor University Gaming League (BUGL) is a near-decade old gaming society which focuses on competitive play. They are proud in accepting members of all skill levels to compete in leagues such as NSE, or NUEL. Last season, they had teams entered in League of Legends, Overwatch, Rainbow 6: Siege, DOTA 2 and Rocket League. They too have some notable accolades under their belt, including a division championship in Overwatch of the Spring 2019 season, as well as achieving division 2 in League of Legends in Spring 2020.
BUGL also has a strong Smash Bros scene, hosting tournaments which are well connected to the external UK Smash circuit via Bangor Smash/Zoo, with one member, TO Haider, gaining a place in the top 8 players across the U.K in the Spring NSE season.
Here’s what their president said:
“We host tryouts every season advertised to the whole university and make our teams from scratch each season (unless they request to play as that exact team again!) We try to organise scrims across our teams though they’re left to their own devices and discords typically, we try to be flexible and help when necessary.”
You can find the link to their Discord here.
You can find the link to their Twitter: here.
Aberystwyth University – Community of Gamers
Aberystwyth’s Community of Gamers (ACOG) are relatively new to the world of esports, but are a well established group nonetheless. Having first started to compete in NSE in Spring of 2019, they have entered strong across a fair few titles. As of this last season, they had teams entered in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, League of Legends, Overwatch, Smash Bros: Ultimate and more.
Despite this relatively new venture, they already have some good achievements under their belt, such as a Hearthstone team consistently placing in the top 8 nationally, a 3rd place finish in FIFA of the Spring 2020 season, as well as one League of Legends team finishing 3rd in their regional division.
You can find the link to their Discord here.
You can find the link to their Facebook here.
Cardiff Metropolitan University
Having just been formed over the last few weeks, Cardiff Met looks set to launch straight into the deep end of competitive university esports. They’re currently looking to build up their entire organisation from square one. From players, to social media and production team, they’re hoping to get students filling all of the new roles. Their goal is to enter teams into NUEL and NSE, as well as holding regular community nights that lie more on the lighthearted side.
Unfortunately, because of this, they don’t have any achievements under their belt so far, nor do we have a record of any games they have teams entered in. However, this should all change this season; if you’re a student there, now’s probably the time to get involved.
You can find the link to their Discord here.
You can find the link to their Twitter here.
You can find the link to their Facebook here.
University of South Wales
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find any information of the University of South Wales and their esports whereabouts, neither were we able to track down any contacts or Discord servers to join. However, if you are a member of USW and are active in esports, please contact us and we will add your organisation’s details to this article. Alternatively, if you are interested in esports and currently a USW student, there’s nothing stopping you from starting a team yourself!
