The area has attracted esports tournaments in the past, such as the Clash Royale Crown Championship at the Copperbox Arena
London tech and innovation campus Here East has announced plans to ‘accelerate the growth’ of an esports cluster at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
A new report – which is being published today on the Delancey’s Here East website and supported by the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) – has outlined a roadmap to create a ‘world-class esports cluster’.
It aims to drive job creation and economic growth, and also bring the esports and games industry closer to East London.
Through various stakeholder interviews, Here East and LLDC say they have identified ‘the unique characteristics that make Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park the natural home for esports in the UK’.
These include sporting venues, close proximity to international esports teams and engagement with academic institutions and local initiatives specialising in esports.
“Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park already hosts some of the most high profile esports competitions, teams and businesses in the UK and Here East has become the fastest growing community of esports innovation in the country.”
Gavin Poole, Here East
A dedicated team, led by Here East and LLDC and including other park stakeholders and venues, will be set up to deliver marketing and communication campaigns, new esports partnerships and collaborations with local initiatives to develop pathways to foster talent.
Gavin Poole, CEO of Here East, commented: “Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park already hosts some of the most high profile esports competitions, teams and businesses in the UK and Here East has become the fastest growing community of esports innovation in the country.
“This report outlines our vision to transform the Park into a world-class esports cluster that sends a clear message to the global esports community – London has the talent, venues and expertise to become a global capital for esports.”
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is already home to global esports competitions at the Copper Box Arena (like the Clash Royale event back in 2017), Staffordshire University London – which offered the UK’s first esports undergraduate course – and esports and gaming businesses such as BT Sport, Sports Interactive and Bidstack.
Staffordshire University has also been in the news on social media lately for more negative reasons. Some students have been unhappy with the quality of the course and Esports News UK will be diving into this in a separate upcoming article.
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.
