Fortress Sydney: $5.6m esports arena, game-themed pub planned at Central Park Mall

One of the southern hemisphere’s largest esports and video gaming venues is set to open in Sydney next year with a capacity for more than 1000 gamers at a time. See what’s planned.

Sydney’s gaming community could be in seventh heaven under plans to build one of the southern hemisphere’s largest esports and video gaming hubs.

Two stories in Broadway’s Central Park Mall would be transformed into an epic gaming facility and game-themed pub in a move designed to cater for the booming esports and gaming markets.

The $5.6 million development would boast a huge gaming screen and arena with 210 seats, along with streaming pods, console gaming suites, a fantasy-themed tavern and a sci-fi inspired bar.

A photo of where the gaming hub will be located at Central Park Mall.

There would also be VIP areas, private party booths, production studios, arcade machines and areas to host social gaming competitions.

Called ‘Fortress Sydney’, it would have a capacity for up 1054 gamers at a time and also host 12 major functions per year catering for esports competitions such as the League of Leagues and Counter Strike.

Fortress Esports, the applicant behind the plans, said the venue would become the first of its kind in Sydney.

A photo of the arena at Fortress Melbourne, which is set to be replicated as a feature at Fortress Sydney.

“There are no other similar venues within Sydney and it will provide a variety of entertainment from board games to computer games appealing to the growing gaming culture,” the company said.

“This is a unique offering for Sydney as it’s significantly different from traditional pubs where entertainment is typically live music with a DJ.

“It will provide a safe and fun place for patrons to bond over food and drinks while enjoying their favourite games.”

The venue is set to be hive of gaming activity.

The plans come as gaming continues to soar in popularity with the market now generating more than $150 billion in global annual revenue.

In Australia, the interactive gaming sector was estimated to be worth $3.4 billion in 2020 and is tipped to increase to $4.9 billion by 2025.

There has also been a boom in the esports viewership market with around four million people tuning in to last year’s League of Legends world championship final, exceeding the NRL grand final by about 500,000 viewers.

The Fortress would feature a gaming arcade.

Sydney based gamer Eileen Bell – recognised as one of Australia’s first female pro-gamers – said the dedicated venue could foster the social aspect of gaming, traditionally played from the comfort of home.

“The younger generation has really contributed to the general popularity and ever since YouTube and Twitch came out its turn into a more community-based activity,” she said.

“If you’re watching someone playing you’re chatting with other people and able to interact with your favourite esports player which isn’t something you get with traditional sports.

Sydney based gamer Eileen Bell.

“We’re seeing more and more live events played in stadiums in Australia – we’ve had the big competitions at Homebush but in terms of a dedicated space we haven’t really had that before on this scale in Sydney.

“I think we’ll see more and more – the Gold Coast is planning to do similar things and there’s also talk of an esports Olympics coming soon.

“When I started gaming in 2008 it was a bit of a novelty but it’s becoming more mainstream.”

The venue would also have a games arcade.

Plans for the new venue show smaller scale events are also planned at the site including free movie screenings, board game nights, weekly dungeons and dragons groups and local gaming competitions.

Food and drinks will be available, allowing patrons to “enjoy drinks while they join forces with their friends or battle against other online teams.”

The venue would trade from 7am to midnight Sunday to Thursday and to 2am on Friday and Saturday. Doors would also open as late as 5am during the 12 yearly functions events to accommodate time zones of international esports competitions.

The venue would have a capacity for up to 1054 people

Noise impact measures have been included in plans to address the chance of noisy gamers creating disturbances in the area with mitigation measures including barricading out-of-bounds areas and hiring security guards on peak days.

The venue would be the second Fortress gaming hub in Australia following the launch of Fortress Melbourne in 2020.

The proposal is currently under assessment by the City of Sydney and if approved is expected to open next year, employing about 50 people.