Shaftesbury has agreed to let 77-79 Charing Cross Road, WC2, to Shanghai-based cyber café brand Wanyoo Café for its European launch.
The café will feature an e-sports gaming station, leisure areas and co-working spaces.
The space, which is expected to open in the next few months, covers 5,330 sq ft across two floors. It will trade from 10am to 10pm every day.
It forms part of Wanyoo’s strategy to open three stores in UK in the next two years to use as its “offline platform”. It has said it is particularly keen to work with universities to provide internships and work opportunities for “e-sports major” students.
The brand, founded in Shanghai in 1998, operates across 1,100 locations in more than 50 cities worldwide. It is primarily based in Asia, but also has cyber cafés in the US, Australia and Canada.
Wanyoo said it chose the space because it bordered London’s Chinatown, as well as its proximity to Covent Garden, Soho and Leicester Square.
Andrew Price, asset executive at Shaftesbury, said: “Video gaming has become a community activity, attracting vast numbers of spectators and contributors seeking to enjoy a shared passion.
“We have seen first-hand the immense popularity of Wanyoo Café in China, and are confident it will be a very successful addition to the capital’s line-up of unique leisure experiences.”
The e-sports phenomenon
By 2019, it is estimated that 427 million people worldwide will be watching e-sports. The increasing availability of online streaming media platforms such as Panda and Twitch has become central to the growth and promotion of e-sports competitions.
Worldwide revenues in the e-sports market are expected to generate more than $1.5bn (£1.2bn) by 2020.
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