We catch up with Richard Barber and Gin Rai of Confetti to find out more about the world of esports, their new £5 million venue, Confetti X, and how you can get involved…
How would you describe esports to an absolute novice?
Esports (or electronic sports) describes competitive video gaming – whether for fun between friends or between professional and highly-trained players, either individually or as teams. Professional esports players and teams at the height of their powers can earn millions in prize money playing in front of packed stadiums. Like professional athletes in traditional sports, professional players require high-end training facilities with consideration given to all areas of performance such as nutrition and sports psychology.
You’ve recently announced plans to build a new £5 million multi-event esports venue, Confetti X. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Part of Nottingham Trent University, Confetti X is an esports and content creation venue set to be fitted with the very best emerging and disruptive technologies available within the multidisciplinary creative technology industry. The key thing here is that Confetti X is to be a purpose-built space for top quality esports productions. The configurations for the spaces have been designed to industry standards as a baseline and innovations in mind to move with the rapidly evolving creative media industry.
Confetti X will also play host to a range of events and activities, including amateur and professional esports tournaments, with the institute set to leverage its strong links with industry to attract a range of esports teams, influencers and brands to its facilities. The 14,000 square-foot complex includes a 100-seater venue for audiences in-person, with purpose-built shoutcaster and analyst studios.
How much of an impact will it have in putting Nottingham on the esports map?
As well as being an education centre of excellence, we anticipate Confetti X will bring many events and new activities to the area – generating significant inward investment for the city.
As with traditional major sporting tournaments, esports can attract a significant volume of spectators and revenue from other regions and countries who may only be visiting that destination because of their interest in esports.
There were an estimated 42,000 attendees to live esports events in the UK in 2019 – including events such as the ESL One Birmingham 2019, which attracted tens of thousands of attendees alone to the city of Birmingham, as well as millions of viewers online.
Like the Red Bull Gaming Sphere, Confetti X will be a gaming and esports hub in the heart of Nottingham, offering the UK community cutting-edge technology, competitive events, and a turn-key venue for tournament organisers and content creators. Through industry leading esports production education, and through bringing many events and activities to the area, Confetti X will generate an economic impact for Nottingham, attracting new students and visitors, and providing the city with a strong opportunity to market to new demographics.
How would you encourage people to get involved in esports?
At Confetti we are raising awareness of esports and encouraging involvement through our curriculum with two courses, at college and degree level, devoted to learning about production technologies and processes used within grassroots to arena-grade, live esports events. As part of these courses we give our students access to cutting edge tech and expertise required for engagement and employment within the esports and live events sector.
Outside of our esports-devoted courses, we also encourage all students to get involved in esports through enrichment activities delivered each academic year. We draw on our strong links in industry to bring opportunities like Halo Clash Series and the Six Memevitational, to campus, and create ‘do it for real opportunities’, providing Confetti students insights and hands-on experience in industry.
While our esports students will be making the most of Confetti X, it will be accessible to all Confetti and NTU students, allowing everyone to find out more about esports and the cutting-edge technologies that underpin the industry.
To find out more about Confetti X and esports at Confetti, visit their website
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