Gfinity to open eSports arena

Gfinity has announced that it has partnered with Vue Entertainment International to build the first eSports arena in the United Kingdom.

The agreement with Vue, the third largest cinema chain operating in the UK, will see the Fulham Broadway multiplex, in London, transformed into an eSports venue, called the Gfinity Arena, with a capacity for 600 spectators.

Scheduled to open next month already, the Gfinity Arena will host live tournaments every weekend and on selected week days. The venue will also broadcast major tournaments from companies like Activision, Blizzard, Valve, Riot, and others throughout the year.


The Gfinity Arena will open in March

This will be the venue for the four CS:GO tournaments that Gfinity will host throughout the season, each one with a prize purse of $20,000. The first event, called CS:GO Spring Major 1, is scheduled for March 21-22.

"This is a pivotal moment for Gfinity and an exciting time for everyone involved in eSports in the UK," said Neville Upton, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gfinity.

"We are delighted to have signed this exclusive agreement with Vue, a well established international brand, to develop and launch the UK’s first and only dedicated eSports arena.

"The tie-up gives us excellent flexibility while de-risking our expansion plans. Gfinity has proven it can organise and deliver world class events and this agreement allows us to satisfy the booming popularity in eSports as a spectator sport.

"Furthermore, the deal highlights the growing interest from leading brands here in the UK in the eSports market."

The move will allow Gfinity to build upon the success of Gfinity 3, which took place in August at the Olympic Park, in London, and saw Virtus.pro win the top prize of $20,000.

In the future, Gfinity and Vue will also work together to promote eSports events, which could see other Vue locations being turned into eSports venues, both in London and in other cities, in the future.

#1
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Ukraine dirka
nice
2015-02-18 15:24
0
5 replies
#65
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom sentrylondon
Shit place to put it though, right next to racist Chelski football stadium, on Saturdays and Sundays depending on game day will be a nightmare getting up there. It's also a super expensive area, they could have put it in a slightly cheaper area and added the extra money to prize pools.
2015-02-18 16:44
0
4 replies
#75
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Lithuania doMiniCano
true that, tho its better than nothing.
2015-02-18 16:57
0
#80
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SmallPenis
Everything is expensive in London. :/ I would've put it somewhere close to the e sports bar in London.
2015-02-18 17:23
0
2 replies
#93
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Nahyul
Where is this wondrous Bar?
2015-02-18 19:02
0
1 reply
#112
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Heacalri
+1
2015-02-20 01:22
0
#5
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden fnatic fanboy
nice for the uk scene
2015-02-18 15:24
0
4 replies
#35
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Netherlands DemO_1337
Where on earth did #2, 3 and 4 go? :(
2015-02-18 15:48
0
2 replies
#43
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden kLIMAX
UFO bro, UFO..
2015-02-18 15:57
0
#55
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
deleted by mods homie, welcome to hltv
2015-02-18 16:38
0
#37
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom s4mm0
True that!
2015-02-18 15:50
0
#9
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Bulgaria DeluxBG
Wooo!
2015-02-18 15:26
0
#10
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Dosia | 
Netherlands timbolina
Awesome
2015-02-18 15:27
0
#11
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
World TikzZ
Johnny R where are you? ;)
2015-02-18 15:27
0
#12
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
The idea is great. BUT WHY IN THE UK?!?!
2015-02-18 15:27
0
19 replies
#21
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Danceyz | 
United Kingdom ManiA\o/
Because thats where the company is based...
2015-02-18 15:29
0
#53
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
GeT_RiGhT | 
Bosnia and Herzegovina OneQliQ
Lool. U stoopid?
2015-02-18 16:35
0
16 replies
#54
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
Im stupid because one of the best ideas so far regarding cs:go competition is being developed in one of the most inactive, less competitive and weakest overall EU cs:go nations. k den
2015-02-18 16:37
0
15 replies
#56
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
uk made cs and is the strongest country in history of cs m8 what you talking about
2015-02-18 16:38
0
10 replies
#57
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
My hltv-senses sensed a Kappa somewhere in that comment, but i can't seem to find it
2015-02-18 16:39
0
9 replies
#60
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
glasses jacket shirt call me glasses jacket n shirt man
2015-02-18 16:41
0
1 reply
#61
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
i are think u r just supa hot fyah
2015-02-18 16:42
0
#62
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SabiaNz
Dont see why you are talking shit, without k1ck your nation would be just as bad as the UK right now.
2015-02-18 16:43
0
6 replies
#63
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
K1CK are a dmg level team m8
2015-02-18 16:43
0
4 replies
#68
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
that's not true dude. Most mid-tier PT teams are dmg-LE level, and they all get completely shrekt by K1CK. K1CK is probably the only team in this country who has any chance of competition, unfortunately they don't try half as hard as they should, they just don't give a flying fuck. K1CK players are around LEM-SMFC if i'm not mistaken. I can give you an example of a legit DMG "Semi-Pro" match, i watched dismay vs. back fire last night, and that was a damn straight mge/dmg match
2015-02-18 16:48
0
3 replies
#79
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
k1ck is dmg m8 sry
2015-02-18 17:21
0
2 replies
#81
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
Ok dude, because you probably know more about the portuguese scene then myself. Me, and most of the people i play with are dmg, and i can tell you k1ck would shrek any dmg team. just saying.
2015-02-18 17:23
0
1 reply
#82
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
k1ck are low bro, always have been, always will be
2015-02-18 17:24
0
#66
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
I'm not talking shit, im just stating the obvious??? I acknowladge that, i'd have the same reaction i'm having atm if this kind of event was to happen in Portugal. I'd like it ofc, since i would be able to attend these events, but i'd be stupified with the choice of location.
2015-02-18 16:45
0
#71
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden expected
You are stupid, and here's why. It's not like some international company decided: "hmm, where should we place this thing then? Oh, yeah, England!". Rather, the company is based in England, and made the assessment that, in its home nation, this idea was sustainable and could work. Therefore they opened it.
2015-02-18 16:52
0
2 replies
#73
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal sen1wat
#21 so yea, i already acknowledge that, but as a typical swede, you had to call someone stupid today or else you'd die right?
2015-02-18 16:56
0
1 reply
#88
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden expected
You posted AFTER #21 insisting that you were still right lmao. Nice try though!
2015-02-18 17:39
0
#96
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
World emythrel
because the arena isn't just for csgo? Its for all esports, SC2, LoL, Dota etc..... Also, who cares if there are no teams, the UK is a lovely place to visit, much nicer than some of the places LANs happen. Cheaper flights from the USA/Canada, i could continue listing reasons but mostly.. gfinity are a UK company and want to promote UK esports.
2015-02-18 19:46
0
Because they invented the internet Kappa
2015-02-18 16:41
0
#13
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Seanza
Might be the start of the infrastructure the UK needs to get some decent players in gaming :D
2015-02-18 15:27
0
3 replies
#36
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Netherlands DemO_1337
It's still the player that controls the keyboard and mouse.. not the buildings.
2015-02-18 15:49
0
2 replies
#91
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Seanza
True. But UK lacks the PC gamer culture. Scandinavian countries are miles ahead in this sense and it's reflected in tournaments - especially in PC FPS!
2015-02-18 18:49
0
#114
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom greenhound
fnatic burj khalifa is my fav player -nip world trade center +nip empire state building
2015-02-20 14:03
0
#14
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Germany dmx1337
nice
2015-02-18 15:28
0
#17
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Poland hillock
NICENICENICE
2015-02-18 15:28
0
finally UK scene will grow :D
2015-02-18 15:29
0
#19
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Boombl4 | 
Europe forisai
sick
2015-02-18 15:29
0
#25
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United States lnflnlty
amazing
2015-02-18 15:38
0
#27
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Ireland conoR-
good
2015-02-18 15:39
0
#29
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Lithuania styxL
rly nice!!!!
2015-02-18 15:42
0
#30
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Lithuania AioNw0w
great
2015-02-18 15:44
0
#31
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Europe Sonti
good
2015-02-18 15:44
0
#33
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Slovakia harek
very nice idea
2015-02-18 15:46
0
#34
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Israel selukvey
I hope it will help the UK CS:GO Scene...
2015-02-18 15:47
0
#40
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom sundown.
NICE
2015-02-18 15:52
0
#41
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Slovenia juzh
expected
2015-02-18 15:56
0
#42
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden magicwizard
greate
2015-02-18 15:57
0
noice
2015-02-18 16:01
0
#45
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden mindeG
pls host a major here, plane tickets are expensive af
2015-02-18 16:06
0
20k prizepool 'major' topcake
2015-02-18 16:08
0
#47
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Kuwait Friza
sick news... but worries me slightly how long they can sustain this? OmegaSektor Birmingham was largest internet cafe in the world, which hosted CGS qualifers, amongst other tournaments with a stage, dj booth, bar etc - 440 top spec pcs and they ended up going bankrupt a few years later youtube.com/watch?v=_3X7w4PRAVw
2015-02-18 16:26
0
16 replies
#50
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Savage -
I mean, gaming has grown a substantial amount since 2008, and this isn't an internet cafe of course - there is already investment going in for tournaments etc, so we have guarenteed stuff going on, don't need to rely on casuals to come in and play. I should think this will go just fine.
2015-02-18 16:27
0
2 replies
#51
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Kuwait Friza
The full article here sums it up, sounds like the same thing just without PCs which worries me slightly as how are they going to sustain constant viewers or money coming into the business, bit mental if they succeed in the UK I will be beyond surprised, good for them for trying tho but I recon it's still too early for huge eSports Arena - would be nice if anyone know how well Kiev arena does, they do rent out pcs tho if I'm not mistaken? hexus.net/gaming/news/industry/15854-ome.. wiki for omegasektor: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_Sektor
2015-02-18 16:32
0
1 reply
#78
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Russia stat1c
Kiev arena does just fine, don't know where exactly they are getting their revenue from, but CyberStadium in Moscow is doing fine aswell (you have to pay for tickets there though)
2015-02-18 17:16
0
#52
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
World jtwaw
Times have changed dramatically since then, esports has developed ten-fold. Businesses like Gfinity are a million times more sustainable than the Omega Sektor ever was - they've built a solid foundation and the UK is a lot more financially stable and accepting of competitive gaming now. By no means do I imagine this venue will be packed week in, week out, but the fact it's a cinema 80% of the time and a gaming arena the remainder ensures that they're not flushing money down the toilet all year round (I'm pretty sure it remains a Cinema most of the year?). When it comes to their tournaments, they will be packed in side and with tens of thousands of viewers online; they will be a success if previous Gfinity events are anything to go by (bar delays). I had the displeasure of playing a few COD tournaments at the Omega Sektor back in 08 with Reason. The place looked great but clearly they were bleeding money, their only income must have been the CGS events and the occasional LAN party - it was a ghost town the rest of the time. Gfinity are working with VUE (obviously massive here in the UK) who are a stable company and won't allow this to die a horrible death. It's worth mentioning that Gfinity primarily host events for the console scene, which is bigger than UK CS by a long, long way.
2015-02-18 16:33
0
11 replies
#69
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden expected
Nice insights, thanks. As a London resident the multiplex is just around the corner from me, so I'll definitely go now and then, not least to the tournaments. Will be interesting to see how it manages, it'd be a real sign of the healthiness of the scene if it does manage to do well.
2015-02-18 16:50
0
#70
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Kuwait Friza
i grew up going to HarrowArena which turned into OmegaSektor Harrow then kinda HMV Gamerbase Picadilly Circus when OS closed down, Sujoy was a good friend of mine from beginning of my CS career always let me lan and train/pracc from there let us have bootcamps there - to see 2/3 iterations of something similar happen before there was HUGE hype, I don't see something like that happening again successfully, I'd love for them to prove me wrong but I still think we're a few years from an eSports arena especially in the UK, Sweden maybe but not for soley esports in the UK. Unless it's predominately Fifa, SF4 and CoD - PC Gaming is no where near as strong in the UK It'll be interesting to see how they do it, if they keep it like a cinema then have it as a "space for rent" for tournaments, then perfect but this article makes it sound like a dedicate studio for esports 24/7 which is amazingly cool, but from a business revenue way no idea how they'd be sustainable, then again I don't know how ESL are doing it as well as they are but they're managing And your VUE reference, Sujoy started up HMV gamerbase in Manchester, London and Reading and they all flopped when HMV gamerbase was a huge chain (actually increased sales significantly in store for games) but flopped - I'm talking like 2-3years down the line more than anything about this arena, I'll more than likely visit it tho of course just from history it will be interesting similar things has happened twice and the hype around omegasektor and HMV gamerbase was huge, world wide press and we know how that went..
2015-02-18 16:55
0
5 replies
#97
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Krackzy92
What was your nickname while at the cafe just wondering if I knew you I used to be a regular for the all nighters there ?
2015-02-18 20:07
0
3 replies
#102
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Kuwait Friza
Friza
2015-02-19 10:18
0
2 replies
#105
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Krackzy92
you're not mix raced are you ?
2015-02-19 13:02
0
1 reply
#120
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
World Necroblob
Yes. John is half English, half Jamaican.
2015-02-21 21:46
0
#103
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
w1cked | 
United Kingdom w1cked
Friza has a point. Those LAN centres flopped and that was when the UK PC Gaming scene was probably 5 times as big as it is now. Only thing that might save it is if they aim more towards XBOX/PS4 tournaments when they're not hosting the bigger sponsored PC tournaments.
2015-02-19 11:00
0
#72
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal BELLYY
Ten-fold is an understatement, I believe. I know we aren't talking about LoL or DOTA 2 but I'm fairly certain that in 2008 people weren't expecting to have, in less than a decade time, prize pools in the $11M range and to have a World Championship with about 32M viewers.
2015-02-18 16:53
0
3 replies
#74
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Kuwait Friza
Valid point, I agreed - more cost of space (renting venue) than anything are really expensive in the UK here that was my main concern - arguably streaming in 2008 was donkeydick, there wasn't really such a thing. If this is successful then I can easily see streaming and TV (CGS style) coming back into the mix without a question of a doubt
2015-02-18 16:57
0
2 replies
#77
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Portugal BELLYY
Agreed as well. Also we should note that Riot Games hosted an LCS weekend at the Wembley Arena which turned out to be a success, but the playerbase is completely different if we compare both games. I believe that what Gfinity is trying to do in conjunction with Vue can become a huge success, let's hope it doesn't die out.
2015-02-18 17:05
0
#84
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Savage -
PLS NOT CGS :P I'll allow anything that doesn't try to 'commercialise' e-sports or change anything for television or views. I think in that sense we've done quite well to hold our ground and stick to competitive settings. Perhaps back then the game wasn't as mainstream and needed amping up, but I don't think we need that anymore, which is testament, in my opinion as to why this can easily succeed.
2015-02-18 17:30
0
#90
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Lockers
Come on man, optimism!
2015-02-18 18:41
0
#49
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
Latvia Ke]R[4u
20k? englando plz
2015-02-18 16:20
0
#58
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
Good to see they have measures in place to remain sustainable a business outside of eSports. Hopefully this will bring the UK back into the fore of eSports across all titles and will pave the way for ventures of this nature for the years to come.
2015-02-18 16:41
0
3 replies
#94
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Belgium Gaza
uk is low in cs bro, period.
2015-02-18 19:15
0
1 reply
#95
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom SUPA HOT FIRE
static.hltv.org//images/flag/pt.gif LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
2015-02-18 19:31
0
#99
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Nero <3 EDM
praying for one in sheffield whats better than a day of nerd filled cs and a night of manly hockey? haha
2015-02-18 20:53
0
#76
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Bulgaria proddex
Gplay are qualified already <33
2015-02-18 17:03
0
Might go to some :D
2015-02-18 17:37
0
#98
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden expected
Hopefully we can introduce some British football supporter culture in there. Vacced in the morning, you're getting vacced in the morning...
2015-02-18 20:43
0
3 replies
#113
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom gaskatron
Hahaha, created an account just so I could tell you how I almost pissed myself reading this
2015-02-20 08:13
0
1 reply
#119
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Sweden expected
Are you KQLY, are you KQLY, are you KQLY in disguise?
2015-02-21 21:30
0
#115
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom greenhound
i hope cs evolves to this point
2015-02-20 14:04
0
#100
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
 | 
United States MrMutton
It would be cool to have one in every city.
2015-02-19 01:39
0
since its so close to esl katowice maybe some international teams will stay back and go to this
2015-02-19 14:11
0
#111
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom Spaci
now i can walk down the road from my favourite football club to an esport arena what a fucking life
2015-02-20 00:35
0
1 reply
#118
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
United Kingdom cyb_ah
cfc <3
2015-02-20 16:43
0
#117
Old school: User been here for more than 10 years  | 
Macau iknowit
20 k - call it major - ok. :D
2015-02-20 16:42
0
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