Bow Valley College unveiled its new esports arena on Wednesday, which aims to be a hub for gaming competitions and game development.
The 3,500 sq. ft arena is the first of its kind in Calgary and will have 40 competition-ready gaming stations, two full motion-rigged racing simulators, a broadcast suite and a varsity esports training room.
Millions of dollars were invested into the arena by the college and will be used to host tournaments, test games and be a workspace for game development programs. The college also said the arena will form a key pillar of the Alberta Esports Strategy, which aims to bolster esports in the province by enabling Albertans to pursue esports careers and increase recognition of Canada’s growing esports industry.
“We’ve sort of created a phased plan for how we’re going to operate this space, prioritizing the academic programming for Esports Business Management Program and then student life to bring in students that are not affiliated with the esports program, but have a passion for gaming and want to be in here,” said Eddie Sargent, associate dean of Bow Valley College’s business school.
“Now we’re working with external partners to come in and run some of their different events out of this space … We want to transform that marketplace from 350 people in a cafeteria setting into 350 people who can watch these different esports events and help develop that talent pipeline that’s so important to putting Calgary on the map as an esports provider.”
Sargent said the arena can host tournaments and competitions for a lot of popular video games such as League of Legends, Dota 2 and Super Smash Brothers. The college also created a three-year plan to cultivate its own varsity teams, starting with creating recreational esports programs and scaling up to three different types of varsity teams.
“One in three people on planet Earth are gamers, which is pretty remarkable when you think about it … Pretty much anyone who can game does. We’re going to get a better idea of what our current student body has an interest in, and that’ll inform which direction we move into,” he said.
“We haven’t done any sort of formal announcements, but we would definitely be interested in trying to create a really smooth pathway to help recruit folks into the program.”
Luke Azevedo, vice-president of creative industries and film commissioner with the Calgary Economic Development, said the arena will train and develop “the next generation of esports users.”
Azevedo, who has been pushing for an esports arena since 2021, said there are a lot of opportunities within the gaming and creative sectors in Calgary. The Calgary Economic Development will also analyze how to monetize esports and how the organization can support the city’s creative sector.
The CED also put $5.5 million into the arena to focus on creative sector programming and support Calgary’s gaming industry as part of its Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund.
“This is a pathway to jobs, to investment and to create Calgary as a location of choice for some of the brightest and best in the world that want to activate in this sector,” he said.
“Tournaments and international impact is absolutely a thing, but we’re also looking at the development and training of the next generation.”
