Fortress Esports Pty Ltd, co-founded by Jon Satterley who was previously the Chief Digital Officer of Village Roadshow in Australia, has today announced plans for the largest video gaming and esports entertainment venue in the Southern Hemisphere to be developed at Emporium Melbourne.

Fortress Melbourne, located in the heart of the CBD, will span 2,700+ square metres across two floors and will be available for marketing events when it opens in early 2020. It will offer a new kind of entertainment experience with over 160 gaming PCs, console gaming suites, dedicated streamer pods, RPG and tabletop game play area, function rooms, a full service restaurant, two bars, and a 200 seat purpose-built esports arena with production facilities, bringing casual gaming to the mainstream.

“Melbourne has become the epicentre for video gaming and esports culture with major events like Melbourne Esports Open and PAX Australia, so we’re excited to be opening our first flagship venue in Melbourne and offer Australians a video gaming entertainment space that they can enjoy all year round,“ said Jon Satterley, CEO at Fortress Esports.

“We want to make Fortress Melbourne the ultimate ‘home away from home’ for everyone, from casual gamers, competitive gamers and esports fanatics, to families and after work crowds. Fortress Melbourne will offer the best video gaming experiences and entertainment, with the newest tech, fastest internet, comfortable decor, great food and drinks, and a rich calendar of events and tournaments, plus more. We are now looking to add to our roster of brand partners, so please reach out to us to find out more,” added Satterley.

Satterley co-founded Fortress Esports in 2018 with Adrian Giles, a technology entrepreneur and current Chairman of ORDER esports, one of Australia’s most successful esports brands, and Ryan Trainor, an education entrepreneur and current CEO of edtech company Adventus.

For the development, Fortress Esports Pty Ltd has partnered exclusively with US-based Allied Esports, the world’s leading network of esports venues and production facilities and operators of the famed HyperX Esports Arena at the Luxor in Las Vegas, to deliver a world-class esports experience and venue. Allied Esports will be lending its expertise in global event programming, development and operation so Fortress will be a ready-to-go championship destination for tournaments.

Fortress Esports is also working with global architectural design firm Populous, the designers of ANZ Stadium and the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, to transform the current basement and lower ground space, which will have a separate entry from Caledonian Lane, in Emporium Melbourne.

According to Interactive Games and Entertainment Association’s Digital Australia 2020 Report, co-authored with Bond University, two in three Australians play video games, with the top reasons for playing being to have fun, pass time, de-stress, take a break from daily life and keep the mind active.