E-sports hotels pop up in cities across China

E-sports hotels equipped with gaming rigs, Wi-Fi, professional headsets, race simulator seats, and huge televisions are increasingly popular in cities across China like Jinan, Zhengzhou, and Xi’an.

China News reports that the rooms in one hotel in the city of Jinan have been decked out for competitive e-sports gamers. Inside a regular room with two beds, the hotel has squeezed in two gaming rigs. Other themed rooms are also available, including one that replicates a college dorm room, complete with bunk beds and PCs that are certainly nicer than the ones most people had in college.

Li Ce, who was born in 1990s, is a loyal customer of this hotel. “Compared to Internet cafes, this place is much quieter. And I can have more private space; it’s really convenient for me to play games with my friends on weekends.” He said that one of the other appeals of the hotel is that they can easily take a shower and sleep when they get tired.

Another customer named Zhang Jun said, “In the past, hotels were only for rest, and lack entertainment. It is a new experience for me to stay in a hotel like this.” He said that the game rigs in the hotel are similar to the ones you would find at Internet cafes, and the price is quite reasonable.

The e-sports industry has developed rapidly in China in recent years according to Zhuang Guodong, the head of the hotel. He opened this e-sports themed hotel with his friends in 2018. He said that the hotel attracts plenty of college students and other young people. “During holidays, rooms are often all booked out; even on weekdays, over 70 percent of the rooms are booked out every day.”

According to Zhang, more than 400 e-sports themed hotels had opened by the end of last year.