East Idaho News
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Recent high school grad owns a business that hosts video game tournaments for students
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August 1, 2024
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1:03Now Playing#eastidahonews #bizbuzz #esports
IDAHO FALLS - The idea of kids growing up to play video games is no longer a joke.
Erik Johnson is the owner of a new youth esports arena in Idaho Falls called XP League. It opened last month at 370 College Street and it's a place where students connect with people online and compete in video game tournaments.
The games range from first-person shooters and one-on-one fighting to a car soccer game called Rocket League.
Students ages 7 to 17 pay for a monthly membership in hopes of qualifying for the national finals in Orlando, Florida. Those who win can get college scholarships.
Erik graduated from Idaho Virtual Academy earlier this year and has been interested in gaming for most of his life. He started participating in esports leagues in high school and wanted to provide a space for like-minded people to do what they love.
"I wish I had (access to something like this) when I was younger," Johnson tells EastIdahoNews.com.
XP League is a national franchise that launched in 2020. Johnson's dad, Robert, saw an ad for it online and suggested Erik open a local store.
Seventeen-year-old Marcus Jensen is a regular customer at the Idaho Falls location. He's starting his senior year at Thunder Ridge High School this fall and has been playing in esports leagues since he was a freshman.
The competitive nature of video games have been a draw for him since he was 5. When esports tournaments became an option in school, he was all over it.
His game of choice is Valorant, a character-based tactical shooter game.
"Each person has their own special abilities (in this game)," Marcus says.
The objective of the game is to successfully plant a bomb and destroy the other team before the opposing team is able to stop them. Meet Marcus and see what it's like in the video above.
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