Cyber Games Arena (“CGA”) CEO Ryan Chow has co-launched a 25,000 square foot integrated esports complex in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, with two high-school friends, Kurt Li and Sam Wan.
The CEO of Hong Kong, Carrie Lam Cheung Yuet-ngor, opened the doors to Asia’s largest esports complex on Monday. The arena will also be called the Cyber Games Arena.
The two-floor building offers training facilities, a competition arena for a maximum of 80 gamers as well as television broadcasts, online streaming platforms and a retail area is hoping to attract over 1.2 million visitors each year and hold more than 100 local, and international esports competitions annually.
The government recently strengthened its support for the company and its ventures, with HK$100 million allocated to Cyberport to “boost esports” including building a HK$50 million (~£4.87 million) competition venue and nurturing grassroots talent.
The initial report from South China Morning Post states that a City University study in 2017 showed there were more than 300,000 players in the city with nearly 90 percent of them aged between 13 and 21.
Carrie Lam Cheung Yuet-ngor, CEO of the Cybersport Arena told SMP: ““Apart from subsidies, we will also improve the business environment and remove red tape,” she said. “The Innovation and Technology Bureau, the Home Affairs Bureau and other departments are working together to solve problems related to esports venues – a new guideline will be issued soon to help the e-sports industry”.
In addition, she emphasised the hope that new venues such as the aforementioned, would help Hong Kong to train gamers to compete at the 2022 Asian Games, where esports will be recognised as an official event.
It also comes after recent news of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s esports project in Foshan. Both Hong Kong and Macau sit within the world’s fourth-largest bay area, in which $294 million (£225m) investment will be split between 50 enterprises from esports and other creative industries.
Esports Insider says: We’re seeing more and more esports complexes emerge and there’s obviously a huge market for these over in Asia. With it being the largest in Asia it wouldn’t surprise us if it was effectively the largest in the world. We can expect a lot more to come from Hong Kong in the future, we suspect.