UK retailer GAME is opening its biggest Belong gaming arena yet.
It’s opening a new arena at London’s Oxford Street on Thursday December 12th, and in doing so, will move its London Lionhearts team from its Wardour Street arena to this new one.
GAME says it’s the UK’s largest gaming arena with 7,500sq ft of space. Players will be able to participate in battle royale tournaments with up to 100 other competitors.
The new Belong arena is housed in the lower ground floor of the House of Fraser store at 318 Oxford Street, Marylebone, London W1C 1HF.
It will also have a ‘pro room’, built and designed for professional esports players and upcoming amateur teams, to practice and compete, with streaming stations for influencers, plus two purpose-built gaming rooms for parties and functions.
Excel Esports will be hosting a meet and greet on Friday December 13th:
Visitors will of course be able to buy games, consoles, accessories, digital content and merchandise in the store.
GAME made the news public on Twitter and published an FAQ page on the new arena, before publishing a press release on the news.
On the FAQ page, GAME said that Arena Clash participants will still be able to use the old Wardour Street arena ahead of the Arena Clash WI19 Finals. Also, the upcoming Arena Clash Spring Qualifiers will be held at the new Oxford Street arena.
At the start of this year, Sports Direct purchased GAME in a deal worth some £52m.
As the sportswear retail group also owns department store chains House of Fraser and Flannels, it was likely only a matter of time before we’d see gamers visiting House of Fraser stores for esports tournaments and more.
Martyn Gibbs, GAME CEO, said: “This has been such an exciting project and one we are very proud of. Joining the Sports Direct group has given GAME and Belong further opportunities, Oxford Street is the perfect place to create the best retail and gaming experience for players.
“This is a new look and feel for GAME and our largest BELONG arena to date. We are very much looking forward to creating some great tournaments and in-store offers throughout Christmas and 2020.”
Martyn Gibbs, GAME
“Through listening and working with our gaming community, we believe we have created the best gaming venue possible and look forward to welcoming every gamer.”
Esports News UK had heard rumours of this new arena opening, but until now there hadn’t been an official announcement.
Expect GAME to publish a full press release this week. When we get this we’ll update this article with further details on the new arena.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
