eSports Studio AKIBA", Japan's first eSports facility with an attached store, OPEN Commemoration Ceremony Report

A ceremony was held today, April 26 (Thursday), to commemorate the opening of Japan's first eSports studio attached to a store, "eSports Studio AKIBA," which will open next week on April 30 (Monday, national holiday) on the second floor of Sofmap AKIBA Store No. 2 PC General Building.

eSports Studio AKIBA" is a game event studio equipped with the latest high-spec PCs and live-streaming and video distribution facilities. It is offered as part of corporate events and classes for students, and can also be used by the general public, such as university clubs and gaming communities (free of charge. (For more information on registration, please click here.)

At the commemorative ceremony, Sofmap President Takeshi Watanabe took the stage first. He said, "Sofmap opened this studio in order to make a strong entry into the e-sports market. He continued, "It was around the end of last year that the term 'e-sports' began to be talked about, and in October of last year, Sofmap renewed the gaming PC floor on the first floor of our store. Around the same time, sales of gaming PCs began to grow, and current sales are more than double what they were six months ago. In such circumstances, we thought that the contribution we, as a retailer, could make to e-sports was to "sell products of manufacturers who support e-sports well. We have adopted a system that allows us to sell products on our e-commerce site while streaming the event as well as the e-sports competitions and games," he explained.

The next speaker was Tsunetoshi Tanaka, J-Stream's executive officer in charge of ad business promotion, who was involved in the installation of equipment and system construction for "eSports Studio AKIBA. Mr. Tanaka said, "By installing NewTek's high-performance TriCaster TC1 switcher, we will be able to switch between the video from cameras installed at the venue and the game screens to create a live streaming experience. He added.


The third guest was Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Director of Clark Memorial International High School Akihabara IT Campus. Mr. Tsuchiya announced, "We are incorporating a curriculum to teach e-sports into an elective class starting in May, and the lecture will be held at 'eSports Studio AKIBA. We look forward to further information on what kind of classes will be held.


The opening ceremony concluded with a 5 vs. 5 Demonstration play using the popular MOBA "League of Legends" by the "Kinki University eSports Circle" and the "Ryukoku University LoL Circle.