On an otherwise insignificant late March afternoon, invited press and public walked through the entrance of a 30,000-square-foot space that was formerly home to a nightclub at the Luxor Hotel & Casino, and into the future of entertainment on the Strip. Esports Arena Las Vegas, the flagship venue of Allied Esports, is the latest of six (soon to be seven) of its venues and two “mobile arenas” in the U.S., Europe and China. It’s also the largest of them all, and in less than two months has amply demonstrated the future looks bright for competitive gaming in Las Vegas and beyond.

Photo by: Christopher DeVargas

Esports Arena Las Vegas was designed to be multilevel and modular, with bleachers that retract to convert the main room into a dance floor. The theater-style seating is mostly used for spectators to view competition on the two-story LED wall rising above the stage where prominent players do battle from their respective consoles. The venue also houses a state-of-the-art production facility and boasts a menu designed by superstar chef/devoted gamer José Andrés and ThinkFoodGroup, who raise the ante considerably by offering salmon sandwiches, katsu rice bowls and five kinds of maki to players who are used to microwaving Hot Pockets at home during online battle.

A virtual reality station, a classic video game bar and an interactive video gaming history display are also provided for perusal, but most of the action takes place on the main floor. Competitions can be followed by concerts, and a DJ booth was built on the second level overlooking the stage.

“The key to our facilities is flexibility and modular design,” says Allied Esports CEO Jud Hannigan. “We knew we wanted something like this to create our vision. But we work a lot with game publishers and tournament organizers and event producers who want a blank canvas to create their vision, and this space does lend itself to that.”

And it’s not just for experienced gamers, as anyone can walk in and obtain gaming passes. While tournaments are held regularly, Esports Arena Las Vegas has already hosted several major competitions that raised its profile considerably and helped make gaming superstar Tyler “Ninja” Blevins into a celebrity when the public was invited to play Fortnight against him at April’s Ninja Vegas ’18 event. Tournaments are streamed live at twitch.tv/esportsarena, giving laptop viewers a chance to see the experts play Super Smash Bros for Wii U.

By May it was clear that Esports Arena Las Vegas was a success. With gaming being considered for inclusion in the Olympics and rapper/singer Drake drawing nearly 650,000 viewers to a Fortnight session with Blevins in April, it’s clear that while the future may not be predictable, gaming and gaming arenas are only going to experience growth.

“There’s really never been anything built like this, where you have 30,000 square feet of space with customized design for an esports person in mind,” says Luxor President and COO Nik Rytterstrom. “So we’re pretty excited about the amenity. I think if you’re an esports gamer it’s going to be a must-see.”

Luxor, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun., noon-11 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat. 702.730.5983