So as we started to grow, you saw belong take a far bigger percentage of the shop floor. “But it was really about how we were going to move from the sale of physical and digital products to the provision of gaming services both for gamers and for publishers. “When we first launched Belong, it was 12 stations on a mezzanine floor within one of the stores,” Gibbs said. There are still some local restrictions in some locations, but that should be done by July 19 in the U.K., said Gibbs, as that is when COVID-19 restrictions are expected to lift. locations are converted GAME stores that still have space for selling wares in the location, said Belong CEO Martyn Gibbs, in an interview with GamesBeat. As you can see from the pictures, there are multiple designs. To further enhance the in-person experience, Belong will equip its arenas with the best products on the market through national partnerships with PlayStation, Omen by HP, Viewsonic, Mavix, and more. Think of it as the baseball diamonds and soccer pitches of gaming, where local communities can come together to play, watch, and compete across the most popular game titles competitively or for fun. Rivals include Nerd Street Gamers.ĭifferent from other youth esports initiatives, Belong’s hyper-local approach will be integrated both physically and digitally to accommodate a variety of gaming appetites, from casual players to aspiring professionals. , with venues in Dallas, Texas Columbus, Ohio Chicago, Illinois and Nashville, Tennessee, to follow throughout the summer and plans to open 500 locations in the next five years. The United Kingdom-based Belong Gaming Arenas has already opened 25 locations in the U.K.

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