You Can Now Pursue An Overwatch Scholarship

Having a scholarship in an esteemed subject is one thing. But having a scholarship in Overwatch? That's something entirely different.

The University of California Irvine has opted to expand its eSports program by offering a devoted scholarship – and it ties in directly with Blizzard's hit multiplayer title.

The company has noted that the scholarship will be up for grabs at the university this fall, and it will be the second gaming-oriented one that it has offered, outside of the League of Legends scholarship that it began offering last year.

So here's how it works. If you're one of the lucky students chosen for the program, you'll be provided "partial scholarships towards the cost of tuition" to a total of $2,500 a year, going towards tuition fees. From there, you'll need to submit about 15 to 20 hours a week for training in the game. This includes meeting with other members of your team, community service (like helping others), competitions and other related events.

The university expects to host tryouts for the scholarship later this summer, with "professional-grade infrastructure" and coaching provided to those that fit into the program.

Considering that the university has seen great success with its esports program, this isn't a genuine surprise, but it's still cool to have nevertheless. The university's eSports director, Mark Deppe, had plenty to say regarding this new scholarship. "We are very excited to take this next step in growing out scholarship program for top gamers who are also strong students and great members of our community. We look forward to connecting the excitement generated by our competitive teams to advance efforts along our other pillars: Academics, community and entertainment."

The UC Irvine team already showed great success on the esports front, after winning last year's Tespa Summer Series. So who knows, this scholarship could help bring some new superstars into the fold, especially with the right amount of coaching and expertise that comes from learning. And here you thought that history would be the hot college topic. Silly students.

Good luck to those who apply!

Overwatch is available now for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.