In Today’s Kim’s Adventure we head out to Contender E-Sport Gaming Center in Irvine California. The founder Brett Payne, with a background in Franchising, saw a boom in the U.S. esports industry. He capitalized on the momentum by creating Contender which currently has over 20 locations worldwide Their high-tech centers bring people together for fun, tournaments, skills development, in-person competition, all while enhancing the excitement of the ever-evolving esports phenomenon.
Esports is an encompassing term that describes competitive video gaming. Today hundreds of thousands of esports players compete in thousands of tournaments worldwide. The first esports tournament is credited with being the “Intergalactic Spacewar Olympics,” It was organized by the Laboratory for Artificial Intelligence at Stanford University in 1972. Over the decades gaming organizations and groups emerged, and by the 1990s, brands like Nintendo and Blockbuster were creating tournaments of their own. With the rise of the internet more competitive gaming emerged. Esports became an important part of the video game industry and prizes have skyrocketed into the hundreds of millions of dollars.
By 2019, one of these tournaments have awarded the winning contestant over $211 million. That’s more money 20 people could make in a lifetime. Esports is now a billion-dollar industry and isn’t losing any steam. The most popular game titles are League of Legends, Dota 2, Counterstrike: Global Offensive, Overwatch, and Fortnite.
Daily rates range from $6 to $25. There’s also monthly membership that goes from $15 – $225 a month. You can visit their website for more information.
The common area was stocked full of all the latest PC’s, and consoles. If you wanted to hold your own events, they also have two party rooms to choose from. The staff informed me that they can purchase any game we request. So, if there’s something they don’t have, they’ll definitely get it for you. My family felt very welcome at Contender, and the staff was really patient helping us out. Thumbs up all the way!
I’d also like to highlight some other notable services Contender offers. They have a Training Academy for gamers who want to level up and start competing in esports. Contender has developed this program to model traditional team sports. First there’ll be tryouts, players will be selected, and then weekly coaching and practice will be offered. They also host tournaments and summer camps. Brett Payne has been quoted that he wants to be the Starbucks of gaming. Looks like a pretty good business model.
Address: 2700 Alton Pkwy Suite 237, Irvine, CA 92606
Website: https://contenderesports.com/irvine-ca/