Arena Gamer completes one year with community recognition and more than 40 events received

The Nave do Engenhão Gamer Arena, the country's first public gaming arena, has completed one year of operation with impressive numbers and recognition from the electronic gaming community. The space has hosted 44 external events, including national and regional championships, game launches, events, and film screenings and tournaments. The venue is an initiative of the Municipal Department of Science and Technology, in partnership with the Games and e-Sports Coordination Office of the Municipal Secretariat of the Civil House.

In this first year, more than 8,1 people passed through the Arena and around 354 groups visited the place, intended for electronic sports and located inside the Nave do Conhecimento do Engenhão, in Engenho de Dentro, North Zone of the city.

– The high demand from event promoters was a great surprise. The result was even better than we expected. The Rio gaming market is close to reaching maturity and the Arena is a facility that only Rio has to support entrepreneurs and the gaming community. We have events scheduled until September and we are managing dates to accommodate all interested parties. Another joy was to observe the spontaneous creation of a team of vulnerable young people, who see esports as a tool for social inclusion and reality transformation. In this first year, we can already say that the Arena is a success, a success and a great vision for the present and future – says Chandy Teixeira, Coordinator of Games and Esports, an agency linked to the Municipal Secretariat of the Civil House.

International attractions also came to the Engenhão Gamer Arena. The two best “Counter-Strike 2” teams in the world, NAVI and Vitality, both European, played a friendly match broadcast to 10 countries. Among the participants, the space was attended by the best in the world in the game, Ukrainian Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostylje. The game Brawlhalla also had a space with the presence of the title’s North American developers.

Since its inauguration, the Arena Gamer has also been the stage for the formation of the Arcanjos team, made up of young people from the region. The team trains with the support of the equipment available there and receives instruction from monitors from Nave Engenhão. The Arena also hosts university teams, which train in the space, and athletic tournaments from UFRJ and other local universities. Among the Brazilian teams, Vasco and Flamengo also competed and trained at the Arena Gamer, strengthening the Rio de Janeiro gaming scene.

For the municipal secretary of Science, Technology and Innovation, Tatiana Roque, one of the objectives of Arena Gamer is to stimulate and qualify young people for this area of ​​work that is growing every day.

The Arena was also chosen as the setting for recording testimonials for the reality show Craque da Voz, on Globoplay, expanding the connection between the gaming universe and entertainment. The Arena already has seven major sporting events scheduled until September of this year.

With capacity for 100 people, the space has been functioning as a hub for inclusion, learning and social transformation for visitors, focused on professions in the creative industry. The arena also has a room for podcasts and narration and a streaming area.