Linksys Teams With UC Irvine Esports Program

UCI is the first public university to create an official esports program and is regarded as one of the best and most comprehensive in the world. With a successful Computer Game Science major, a thriving gaming community, and a history of elite competition, UCI is a natural place for esports to thrive.  College Magazine ranked UCI the No. 1 school for gamers in 2015. The Association of Gamers boasts the highest membership of any student club on campus, and the computer game science major in the Donald Bren School of Information & Computer Sciences is the largest in the country.

"A UCI survey of undergraduate students found that 72 percent identify as gamers, making for an ideal demographic group for Linksys to work with and gain more insights to help improve the online gaming experience" said, Mark Deppe, UCI esports director.  "It means a lot to have a company like Linksys supporting our program. Their name recognition and brand is well known in the gaming space and a natural fit for our gaming program and associated partners."

"Linksys' world class engineering lab is located in the UCI Research Park in Irvine, California. We have been looking for ways to further engage with the university and its students to help us learn more about technology that we could implement into our products" said Vince La Duca, Sr. global product manager for Linksys. "When UCI launched the esports program last year, it was the same time we were finalizing our plans for our latest gaming router – the WRT32X.  We knew we needed to be involved so we could help improve online gaming performance while getting insights from professional players and students that will help us build products the online gaming community would clamor to get their hands on."

As part of the sponsorship, Linksys will also be providing some of its business grade networking solutions such as Ethernet switches to help power gaming tournaments and esports arenas.  Linksys also provides the switches for many of the PAX gaming tournaments, Open to Play and BYOC Lan parties around the world.

About the University of California, Irvine
Founded in 1965, UCI is the youngest member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. The campus has produced three Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UCI has more than 30,000 students and offers 192 degree programs. It's located in one of the world's safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County's second-largest employer, contributing $5 billion annually to the local economy. For more on UCI, visit www.uci.edu.

About Linksys
The Linksys brand has pioneered wireless connectivity since its inception in 1988 with its leading innovation and engineering strategies, best-in-class and award-winning technology, design and customer service. Linksys enables a connected lifestyle for people at home, at work and on the move, and with its award-winning products, simplifies home control, entertainment, security and Internet access through innovative features and a growing application and partner ecosystem. For more information, visit linksys.com, like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or watch us on YouTube.

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SOURCE Linksys