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Glytch announces series of esports venues across North America

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Glytch, in collaboration with Liquid2 Ventures and Scenario, announces plans to build a series of state-of-the-art large-scale esports venues across North America.

Glytch Inc. has announced a programme of large-scale venue builds across North America. Each esports stadium will become the official home of a major esports team, and aims to create a brand new experience for spectators.

Glytch has broken ground on the first venue in Los Angeles, which is slated to open in 2022.

Esports was already a global multi-billion dollar industry, however the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated interest online. The Guardian reports that streaming platform Twitch grew its audience by around a third during the first wave of the virus.

Esports venue technology

Glytch is banking on the perennial desire for a shared experience in physical space. The venues will range in scale from 50,000 to 70,000 sq. feet, offering seating for thousands. Fluid staging will allow the venues to host a wide range of both esports and other live events. The esports stadium experience will be fully themed and immersive with additional location-based entertainment to include VR simulators, drone races, escape room experiences, old-school arcades and upscaled cafes.

Michael Williams, CEO and Founder of Glytch, is keen to disrupt the concept that esports involves people being static for eight hour stretches. “Esports should have a high-energy atmosphere with all kinds of dining, attractions and entertainment options to choose from,” he says.

Williams also owns GameWorks and is a longstanding video game developer.

Taking the esports experience to the next level

Liquid2 Ventures are lead investors in Glytch. The company was also an early investor in successful esports team Cloud9. Other investors include TwitchTV co-founder, Kevin Lin and The Lego Movie executive producer and TT Games founder, Jon Burton.

“As an early believer in esports, we think that Glytch has the right team and expertise to take the in-venue experience to the next level,” said Joe Montana, Founding Partner of Liquid2 Ventures.

Scenario, a division of Cockram and Kajima Corporation, are design and construction partner for the project. Scenario’s Projects include Lionsgate World in Zhuhai, China, the first ‘vertical theme park’ in the world.

“Scenario has recently expanded into turnkey project delivery”, said Dan Moalli, Vice President of Scenario USA. We believe in the vision of Glytch, its management team and its tremendous growth potential. We are really excited to be part of this project.”

“This is a big bet,” admits Michael Williams. “But esports are a permanent part of our culture and things will get back to normal – blending esports with location-based entertainment is the right formula for success.”

Every great sport needs a “cathedral”. Blooloop looks at the future for esports arena development here.

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Rachel Reed

Rachel Read

Rachel is co-founder and FD of blooloop. She has a degree in engineering from Cambridge University, is a Chartered Accountant and has a certificate in Sustainability Leadership and Corporate Responsibility from London Business School. Rachel oversees our news, events and sustainability.

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