The Gamer Bar

A new F&B / Entertainment concept proposal

Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. What is a Gamer Bar? Why Korea? About e-Sports References

1. What is a Gamer Bar

A sports bar type of venue that targets males aged from 18 - 30s who are gamers or fans of e-Sports competitions and other online games. Similar to a sports bar, but integrates: Projectors and TVs broadcasting constant gaming streams and full coverage of major tournaments (specifically Starcraft II, among other popular game titles). PCs are set up to play against friends for free [games played with your friend are streamed to the TVs/projectors inside the bar]

Case Study Meltdown (Paris, France)

Europes 1st Gamer Bar Opened May 3, 2012 Hours: Mon-Sun; 5pm-2am Features: 5 screens and a projector that streams constant gaming coverage 2 free to access computers where gamers can play a game [the game will be streamed to the rest of the bar]
Target: young men 18-30s

Interior of bar

Sci-fi library for those interested in reading and coffee.

Starcraft II players who are ranked Masters (highest rank for those who are playing on a professional level) on Blizzards ranking system receive one free drink if they play a game while at the bar.
PCs available for gaming [games played will be streamed to bar]

Games are streamed on projectors and televisions

Not all gamers are men, the gamer bar concept has potential to attract females as well.

A sports bar venue dedicated to everything gaming related even with free to use PCs.

2. Why Korea?
E-sports and Starcraft has been integrated into popular Korean culture and is often times considered the countrys national sport. E-Sports has also been considered more popular than regular sports like Major League Soccer.

Major companies like Korean Air endorse and sponsor ESports/SCII related activities and events.

A recent Starcraft II tournament in Las Vegas drew 100,000 viewers; for comparison, Major League Soccer games averaged 70,000 viewers (1).

Arbitrage reports on major tournaments where winners receive up to $100,000 USD for prizes (6).

Thousands of fans gather to watch the 2006 Proleague finals in S. Korea (7).

Tournaments hosted by the Global Starcraft League (GSL) based in Seoul, draw millions of viewers both off and online with title sponsors (8).

The NYTimes reports that PC games and video games are a main part of Korean culture (2).

Al Jazeera , a Middle Eastern news network reports that e-Sports and Starcraft are more popular than regular sports in South Korea (5).

CNN reports on the rise of Starcraft and e-Sports to mainstream culture in S. Korea (4).

Raising the Stakes: E-Sports and the Professionalization of Computer Gaming is a new book that documents e-Sports rise to mainstream popular culture (3).

3. About E-Sports
Corporate sponsors believe in the continuing growth of e-Sports due to the dramatic 403% increase in sponsorship donations for gaming tournaments from 2010 to 2011.

E-Sports Prize Distribution from 2010 2011 (9)

Total Prize Distribution (2010) Total Prize Distribution (2011) % Change

Industry Statistics

$1,295,800 USD

$6,512,275 USD
Esports Prize Distribution

+ 403%

3,000,000
2,525,775

2,500,000

Total Prize Amount (USD)

2,000,000
1,698,500

1,500,000
1,010,000

1,000,000

796,650
549,900

500,000
248,650 0 56,550 219,300

277,200 104,000

165,250
58,950 31,000 66,350 0

0 StarCraft 2 DotA 2 Counter Strike 1.6 Heroes of Newerth League of Counter Quake Live Legends Strike Source (CSS) Call of Duty MW3

Game Titles 2010 Total Prizes (USD) 2011 Total Prizes (USD)

3. About E-Sports
There are a number of tournaments and leagues that supply a constant stream of content that attracts wide audiences that are both diverse and large in number. More importantly, the Global Starcraft League (GSL) and the Korea Esports Association are key leagues based in South Korea that can attract the local audience.

Major Tournaments and Leagues

League and/or Tournament Founded
2000 Based in NY

What is It?
Professional e-Sports organization that holds video game tournaments in the U.S. and Canada. Tournaments lead to the National Championship event

Prize Pool
MLG Pro Circuit Starcraft II Prize Pool: $76,000 USD MLG National Championship: $600,000 USD

Viewership
As of April 2012, CBS Interactive Games announced a partnership with MLG to host games on T.V (10). MLG Orlandos 2011 Pro Circuit (11) event gained 181,000 unique concurrent online viewers tuning live to the stream. 15,000 fans attended in person for the 3 day competition held from October 14 16th 2011. 3.2 million hours of video were consumed online.. First half of 2011 season: 50 million (40 million from GOMtvs website gomtv.net and 12 million from Chinas NeoTV) (12).

2010 Based in Seoul

Starcraft II tournament hosted by GomTV and Blizzard Entertainment. Government org whose goal is to make e-Sports an official sporting event.

At the end of the 2012 GSL Season 1: 2.1 billion KRW (1.9 million USD).

2000 Based in Seoul

IGN Proleague is an annual Starcraft II tournament is held. This year it was held from 4/6 4/8 in Las Vegas.

$100,000 USD
1st - $40,000 2nd - $16,000 3rd - $7,000 4th - $5,000 5th 20th - $5k-$1k

3 million unique online viewers. 6 million hours of video content viewed online over the course of the 3-day event. 346,000 peak concurrent online viewers, largest-ever for an online viewership for an eSports event held outside Korea. 10,000 spectators live at the actual event. (13)

4. References
(1) http://www.marketwatch.com/story/epson-projectors-bring-north-american-star-league-starcraft-ii-esports-tournaments-to-life-2012-04-19

(2)

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/khtml/2006/10/08/arts/20061008_SCHIESEL_AUDIOSS.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1160937231DAc21c6JEjFsTF5xznSVbw
http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=12799 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51fSz1mrHM0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgfGJ6sPMyo http://www.arbitragemagazine.com/topics/business/sc2-e-sports-bubble/ http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2011/03/the-dawn-of-starcraft-e-sports-come-to-the-world-stage/ http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/n_feature/2012/02/01/53/4901000000AEN20120201008100315F.HTML http://www.progamingtours.net/index.php?/esport-statistics.html http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/04/17/cbs-interactive-partners-with-twitch-tv-and-major-league-gaming-to-form-esports-behemoth/ http://www.majorleaguegaming.com/news/mlg-orlando-smashes-viewership-records http://www.complexitygaming.com/news/2969/ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ign-pro-league-now-biggest-esports-league-delivers-largest-single-event-in-north-american-esports-history-2012-0417

(3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13)

Meltdown Bar References: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=336504 https://www.facebook.com/MeltdownParis