Cineplex to launch gaming league,
Theatre chain to launch a competitive gaming league for national and local events
The world of e-sports continues to grow, and Cineplex, Canada’s largest chain of movie theatres, is really getting into the game.
On Thursday, Cineplex Entertainment Inc. announced it will acquire the assets of Toronto-based WorldGaming, which has a gaming platform used for tournaments and leagues for the competitive gaming community, investing $15 million (U.S.) in the venture.
It’s the next step for the company, which has been hosting viewing parties for competitive video gaming events. In July, it was part of a collective of North American cinema companies launching In-Theater gaming, which was a World Gaming initiative.
“We have done some forays into the e-sports world, and we know that it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” said Pat Marshall, vice-president, communications and investor relations, Cineplex.
“So we wanted to be on the forefront. We love the opportunity of taking the online gaming experience and bringing it in-theatre, so that our guests can compete with face-toface.”
To that end, Cineplex plans to launch a new gaming league that will operate and oversee future tournaments at Cineplex theatres, holding local and national tournaments.
“This appeals to a demographic that is hard for advertisers, and sponsors to access in a lot of ways, so that provides a great opportunity for us, ” Marshall said. “It enables access to a demographic and gets them into a theatre with more frequency.”
Marshall says the company is building the tournaments in Canada first, but it could be a business model they export.
“It’s always great to see more people getting into the scene,” said Kyle Chatterson, managing editor for esports at the Score.
The Toronto-based sports app company also sees the growth in the space and recently launched a standalone e-sports app.
“It’s almost like a generational change; more people are growing up playing videogames,” Chatterson said. “While it may not be completely accepted across all the mainstream places, it is something that people see as legitimate.”
One of the draws that Chatterson points to is that the pro-gamers are not as removed as professional athletes in other sports, so many players can actually play and potentially compete against the stars.
Cineplex says it will invest $10 million for the assets of WG Ltd., which operates WorldGaming, and a further $5 million to expand the business. In the short term, WorldGaming will operate as separate unit.
WorldGaming (originally known as Virgin Gaming) rose to prominence as a place that gamers could win cash versus other players, and reports over eight million matches played and $40 million in cash prizes paid to gamers since it launched in 2006.