Fortress Melbourne will be Australia's largest esports arena
Set to open next year, its expanse will cover 2,700+ square metres.
Melbourne, Australia is set to host the Southern Hemisphere's largest esports venue in early 2020. Fortress Melbourne, which will be operated by Fortress Esports Pty Ltd, will cover 2,700+ square metres, house over 160 PCs, as well as function rooms, tabletop play areas, a restaurant, two bars and a 200 seat arena.
In addition to all that, Fortress Melbourne will also feature console gaming suites and "dedicated streamer pods". Fortress Esports has partnered with Allied Esports on the project, which operates the HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas.
The site will be situated in the Emporium Melbourne, in the basement and lower ground space of the building.
The news follows the announcement earlier this month of Gfinity Esports Australia's closure. According to a statement issued, the local esports market "has not developed to the level forecast when the company was launched in 2017". Hopefully Fortress Esports doesn't encounter any similar issues in Australia.
Here are some more (mocked up) images of the venue:
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.
![BRAZIL - 2021/10/12: In this photo illustration the Unity Technologies logo seen displayed on a smartphone on the background of a keyboard. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Xhca876xaXky5MgAwTEc3e-840-80.jpg)
2 years into Unity's long downward spiral, even more employees are being laid off as CEO says it's still 'stretched across too many products'
![A conceptual image illustrating strategy and risk with a white mouse hanging mid-air in a harness, wearing a communication headset with earpiece and microphone being lowered towards a primed mousetrap load with Swiss cheese on a tiled floor. Light From a slightly ajar door illuminates the scene.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V3rReteJCG8qFgGqp3hHoX-840-80.jpg)
Google's AI made up a fake cheese fact that wound up in an ad for Google's AI, perfectly highlighting why relying on AI is a bad idea