Southern Cross University opens esports hub on Gold Coast campus

Australia-based Southern Cross University has opened a dedicated Esports Hub on its Gold Coast campus, giving the campus’s student community a physical space for gaming.

As per the official announcement, the space is fitted with 12 gaming PCs, two console gaming areas and a racing simulator. University staff describe the Hub as a pilot initiative, set up to test how a dedicated esports space affects student engagement, campus participation and social connection. It’s also being used as a live research setting, feeding into ongoing work on healthy gaming habits, player behaviour and esports performance.

The University says the Hub is designed to let this kind of research inform day-to-day practice more directly, so students can apply evidence-based approaches to how they train and play as that research develops, rather than waiting for it to be published elsewhere first.

The University’s esports community didn’t begin with a facility. It grew out of a small staff-led initiative and a Discord server, where students organised matches, chatted and watched each other play via livestream. That informal setup has since developed into a structured program.

Since the community formed, more than 350 students have taken part in the student esports program. Fifty have represented the University in organised online competitions, and 28 have taken on volunteer roles. Six organised teams now train on a regular basis, similar to how traditional university sports clubs operate.

“We’ve seen communities form, and students find their own friendship groups. It’s now the students that are driving it forward,” said Tim Joyce, Esports Coordinator at Southern Cross University.

Southern Cross University is one of several institutions building out dedicated esports infrastructure in recent months. Days earlier, the University of Sydney Union partnered with esports venue operator Game Square, a division of ADVA Group, to open its own gaming and esports facility on campus.

In February 2026, Fort Erie International Academy in Canada partnered with consultancy firm A5 Labs to launch what was described as the country’s first purpose-built scholastic esports facility and competitive program. Government-affiliated bodies like the Japan Sport Council, which supports Japanese athletes, are also investing in esports infrastructure.