First Round eSports Bar Opens in Sydney
First Round eSports is Syndey’s first dedicated social space for gamers. Gamers Classified attended the recent launch and spoke to First Round eSports Founder, Frank Leung. You can view our interview with him and other prominent figures from Sydney’s gaming community below.
First Round eSports aims to bring the gaming community together in a social setting. Given that over 90 per cent of Australian households have at least one game console* and that 86 per cent of Australian households have an internet connection*, Leung correctly notes that it is no longer necessary to leave your house in order to play video games. While this may have some advantages, it has also impacted the development of a gaming social scene. First Round eSports aims to address this by being Sydney’s premier location for gamers to socialise IRL. As such, the venue includes a bar, indoor seating and various console set ups.
Leung intends to start hosting gaming competitions soon which will be open to participants of any skills level. These competitions will be formerly organised and footage will be streamed. Commentary will be supplied by other members of the gaming community.
Competitions will initially focus on eSports-centric games such as Dota 2, League of Legends and Overwatch but can expand based on customer demand. These competitions will emphasis fun and social interaction as First Round eSports aims to bring the gaming community together. This sentiment is shared by Youssef Faddoul, Community Manager of Oz Hadou, and a prominent figure in the Sydney Fighting Gaming Community (FGC).
In an earlier interview with Gamers Classified, Faddoul stressed that the ‘C’ in FGC stands for ‘community’ and that the gaming industry could not exist without the passion, support and friendships forged at a grassroots community level. A man of his word, Faddoul attended the launch of First Round eSports to support friend and fellow gamer, Leung. Faddoul and others spoke at the launch to express their desire to help grow the gaming community. They also engaged in some hijinks to showcase the fun and camaraderie that exists in the gaming community which you can view here.
First Round eSports is located in Ashfield, inner Sydney. It is within walking distance of Ashfield train station and is close to parking. This venue serves alcohol but minors are welcome to attend and participate provided that they are accompanied by an adult. First Round eSports practices the responsible service of alcohol.
To stay informed about upcoming events or to plan your visit, follow First Round eSports on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
*For sources to the statistics mentioned in this article, please click here.
Interesting. Haven't seen anything locally like this since broadband came in and the Internet cafes dies out along with the LAN scene.
Indeed. I remember when internet cafes were a huge thing. Would spend hours there playing LAN. Nowadays with Internet so freely available I can see why it died off but we were there the other week and there is certainly a market for it!
That's a cool bar, we don't have anything like that here.
It is definitely cool! Hopefully more and more pop up.