Entertainment, socialising, and drinking have long made for comfortable bedfellows. Snooker, poker, music, quizzes, and all sorts of accompaniments to a night out can be found in just about every pub in the country. The addition of a games console to a quiet corner of the bar is something a little different though.
Gaming is one of the more dynamic areas of entertainment, expanding to fill each new technological niche as it comes along. The development of mobile gaming, for example, permanently changed the hobby into an always online, always accessible phenomenon, a development that had benefits for developers, online casino businesses, and everything in between.
“esports” (CC BY 2.0) by sam_churchill
eSports
Video games have been popular in the UK since the early nineties and the hobby has arguably been at the same ‘fever pitch’ of today for the best part of the past decade so why have so-called ‘gaming bars’ only just begun to pop up on Britain’s high streets? Their growing popularity has a lot to do with the rise of eSports.
eSports is one of the fastest growing industries in entertainment with most of its growth coming since mid-2013. What is it? Imagine a sport like American football, its bright lights, competitions, massive prize funds and celebrity players; simply swap the football for competitive video gaming and you’re not far off eSports.
People have been playing each other online – even competitively – since Quake III Arena launched in 2000. It’s taken a long time for eSports to become a global game, with the blame for that sluggish rise lying with broadband companies and the low feasibility of streaming feeds and games until the last few years.
However, with Blizzard (the company behind Diablo III and World of Warcraft) recently creating a professional Overwatch team, eSports is in its ascendency.
“Williams pin*bot 1987” (CC BY 2.0) by el-toro
Pub Aesthetic
So, if you’re curious about eSports or just want to play games somewhere other than the living room on a Friday evening, there’s now the option of including a game bar on a night out – if you can find one. In 2016, game bars are almost universally a ‘London thing’ in the UK, with notable places in Peckham, Islington and Hackney.
The rest of the UK has to be satisfied with finding the occasional PlayStation 4 or Xbox 360 in a new pub. Failing that, there’s the option of the online casino where you can try your hand at blackjack. It might not be an official eSport but the game can offer players just as much excitement and competition.
Meltdown, a pub near Caledonian Road Station, is the result of a collision between the traditional pub aesthetic and the high-tech leanings of eSports, while Peckham’s Four Quarters is more of a traditional arcade serving booze and food. Loading in Stoke Newington is a bit more invested in the whole gaming thing, selling cocktails like Deus Ex on the Beach.
While less of a gaming bar and more of a mixed entertainment venue, there’s also the Four Thieves in Battersea. The venue occasionally hosts VR sessions (if you’re curious but scared of the price tag of the HTC Vive) and has both pinball machines and retro arcade cabinets available to play.
So, there you have it – a few new places to haunt this coming weekend.
