TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Announces “Immersive Esports Theater”

[vnc]

[QUOTE]The famous Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, owned by Chinese electronics company TCL, has announced an expansion into esports. This summer, the company is planning on launching an “immersive esports theater” in its Chinese 6 Theatre complex.

[QUOTE]“What we are launching is just the tip of the iceberg,” said TCL Chinese Theatre CEO Robert K. Laity. “We see cinema operators working together as a global network of immersive MX4D esports theaters and becoming part of the fabric of competitive gaming. We are in discussions with sponsors, esports organizations and other cinema operators to join forces with the TCL Chinese Theatre as we bring this exciting capability to the world of online and live tournament play.”[/QUOTE]

This move comes on the heels of the Chinese Theatre hosting Vainglory‘s World Championships last December. Other cinemas have held similar esports initiatives, most popularly the Canadian cinema company Cineplex, who bought esports organization WorldGaming in 2015.

TCL’s esports theater will feature both esports events and regular movies, and will have some of the newest cinema technology including MX4D—a “total immersive” experience where the audience can “‘feel‘ the movie’s motion, jolts, pokes, wind, water, and even scents,” the result of “air/water blasts, leg/neck ticklers, fog, seat/back pokers, seat rumblers, and other special effects.”[/QUOTE]

[URL="http://esportsobserver.com/tcl-chinese-theatre-hollywood-announces-immersive-esports-theater/"]Esports Observer[/URL]

[Alec W]

More and more eSports stadiums popping up.
Hopefully this is positive growth and not a growing bubble. I know that a lot of saturation of events can spread the attendance and viewership pretty thin across all eSports but maybe this could be a sign that more and more and more people are predicted to be interested and involved in both viewing and playing.