MU Games Soc Set to Split

Maynooth University’s Games Society is set to undergo an amicable restructuring. In an email sent to Games Soc members on 16 February, the society committee confirmed the separation of their esports branch, set to shortly become its own Esports Society.  

Games Soc President, Finbarr Maguire, spoke to Silver Hand Journal last week, alongside current Esports Management Coordinator, Patty Momita, and Esports Promotion Coordinator, Dervla MacDermott.  

Maguire outlined the current structure of the Games society, which covers and facilitates a broad range of games, from Dungeons & Dragons and card games to RPG-based war games. It boasts a membership of approximately 380 students, a significant portion of which partake in esports. Esports is a label used to cover various online competitive games, ranging from the well-known FIFA or Fortnite franchises to smaller independent games. The Games Society's dedicated esports Discord server has 250 members, and serves as its main channel of communication alongside a general society-wide server.  

“We have CS:GO, Rocket League, League of Legends,” MacDermott says, “We have a Minecraft server people can join; we had a Clash Royale tournament a few months ago.” 

Such a broad range of esport games proved a challenge to manage for Co-ordinators Momita and MacDermott, the latter of whom was enlisted just recently to assist Momita’s efforts. For example, at the beginning of last term, she was required to assess the skill level of new members in a trial system and assign them to suitable teams. Without yet having the aid of MacDermott, Momita had just one week to complete this alone. “Two people doing the job of a whole committee.” Maguire remarked. 

Momita, Maguire, and MacDermott all stress that the reason for the split is simply logistical and that the demand of esports had outgrown the resources Games Soc could reasonably provide. Discussions regarding the formation of an Esports Society had taken place since 2023. It was only in recent months that the Clubs & Societies committee recognised the need for an official split. 

Momita confirms; “We put a vote in the [Games & Esport] Discords. We gave it a week for members to choose if they wanted to split. It was an overwhelming majority of ‘Yeah, let’s split.’” 

Even under a new society leadership, much overlap will remain with Games. Momita intends to run as President, MacDermott as secretary, and Maguire as Treasurer, hoping to comprise a temporary committee along with other Games soc officials. With additional funding and support, Esports society will be able to continue partaking in competitions, such as the Irish Esports Collegiate Society leagues, in which teams from universities nationwide compete in various online games. They intend to retain their ‘Maynooth Martyrs’ team name and membership, as well as long-standing collaborative relationships with other societies such as the Pride society.  

For now, the split is still under negotiation, as formation of a new society requires approval from Clubs & Societies, a minimum number of members, and the writing of a society constitution. All three committee members hope to formally establish the Esports society during this present semester, and to be a fully functional society by the beginning of the next academic year.  

For now, Momita encourages anyone interested to join: “It’s open to all ranks, it’s open to anyone[…] if you want to join, just join the Discord and we’ll be able to facilitate.”