Localhost Arena will be a dedicated event space for esports competitions and events and will showcase the premier games in the industry. Philadelphia esports network N3rd Street Gamers hires local Colorado talent to oversee and operate center.
N3rd Street Gamers, billed as America’s premier amateur esports pipeline, is set to occupy 18,000 square feet in Lakewood for use as an esports arena. With the aim of attracting the largest names in the esports industry to the Rocky Mountain region, Localhost Arena will also serve as a general purpose gaming center with food, drinks, and lounge space. It will be the largest space dedicated to esports in Colorado.
Opening later in 2018, Localhost Arena will fill a gap in the esports events sector. Esports across the globe is on track to be a 1 billion dollar industry by 2020, but there is no viable esports event space operating in Colorado. Localhost Arena will be located in Lakewood, Colorado, and provide the Greater Denver Area with access to high quality gaming machines and event space.
Esports as an industry is one of privilege with the cost of equipment often prohibitive to audiences. Owning and maintaining top tier computers is expensive, and Localhost Arena makes it affordable for aspiring esports athletes to compete.
Localhost Arena will also help provide an even playing field during competition. Online competition across various internet connections and devices can not provide the type of low latency, high performance, balanced playing field that Localhost does.
The Localhost Arena opening in Lakewood, CO is an extension of the franchise based in Philadelphia and run by N3rd Street Gamers. Localhost Arena in Philadelphia serves its local community by running events, showcases, and bootcamps focused on both PC and console games. Gaming in person is inherently more social than gaming online. At Localhost Arena, anonymity is greatly reduced.
Localhost Arena in Denver will operate under a similar model, but at a much grander scale. It will utilize 18,000 square feet of space near a high-traffic intersection in Lakewood and feature over 120 PCs, a permanent event stage, a full-service bar, and a lounge. Its primary focus will be producing esports events and tournaments.
With the global esports revenues pushing $1 billion in 2018, according to the latest Newzoo Global Esports Market Report, the opening of a dedicated esports arena in Colorado is critical to bringing in additional revenue for the state and local businesses. The esports industry as a whole grew nearly 40% year over year. It’s growth is forecast to continue.
N3rd Street Gamers decided to enter into the Rocky Mountain region due in part to efforts by members of the local Denver esports community. “Denver is close to my heart as a place I have traveled to annually for decades,” remarks John Fazio, Founder and CEO of N3rd Street Gamers. “More importantly, it is a strategic location that provides access to one of the country's strongest and oldest gaming communities,” he says.
Fazio continues to outline the importance of the arena’s Rocky Mountain location. “Localhost Arena will be our largest and most advanced facility, and we are excited to push forward innovation in our industry while being a home to developing esports athletes in Colorado.”
The 18,000 square foot space will have room for over 1,000 spectators. It will also include separate space for esports teams to practice.
Ryan Barr, Chief Experience Officer for NSG, touches on the broad reach of the venue. “We're excited to be creating a location in Denver for Localhost Arena that will not only serve the local esports and gaming communities on a daily basis, but will also attract events and tournaments from out-of-state organizers.”
The equipment inside the space will be tailored toward the esports industry. Over 100 top-tier gaming PCs will be paired with equally monitors. Gaming chairs provided by a top name brand will line the rows of computers. Console gamers will have their choice between Xbox One consoles, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Gamers playing at Localhost Arena play on the same tier of equipment the pros game on at an affordable price.
Localhost Arena proposes to host esports-related events and tournaments nearly every weekend. Events include, but are not limited to, PC games, console games, table top games, and digital and trading card games. The event center will also be a showcase for a newly created National Championship Series created by N3rd Street Gamers.
Learn more about Localhost Arena by following them on Twitter, Facebook, or by visiting the N3rd Street Gamers website, www.nsg.gg.
ABOUT N3RD STREET GAMERS
N3rd Street Gamers is an esports network based in Philadelphia that focuses on serving semi-professional and developing competitive gamers. Started in 2009 by entrepreneur John Fazio in the Jarvus Innovations Incubator, N3rd Street Gamers promotes greater access to the esports industry by not only increasing the amount of in-person competitions, but also by running them on high quality equipment at affordable prices. To accomplish this, N3rd Street Gamers empowers competitive gaming communities with resources to grow and a national system for tracking player progression. Tying together the communities under a unified regional framework in 2018, N3rd Street Gamers launched the NSG Eastern Conference Championship with events spanning three cities and multiple games. Early backing came from SeventySix Capital, a premier sports tech venture capital firm led by MLB World Series Champion Ryan Howard. It was in June of 2018 that Comcast Spectacor, owner of a portfolio of professional sports teams that includes the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and the Overwatch League’s Philadelphia Fusion, announced a strategic investment in N3rd Street Gamers. Through the support of these partnerships, N3rd Street Gamers is laying a national framework for esports talent development.
