Let the games begin!
A new gaming center dubbed BrookLAN will open inside a former Bushwick warehouse next year, offering gamers access to top-of-the-line computers and consoles in the hopes of finding Brooklyn’s next e-sport legend, according to one of the masterminds behind the project.
“We’re hoping that people who want to come in to play more casual games hopefully catch that e-sports bug,” said BrookLAN’s head of gaming Alec Polsley.
Polsley and a team of developers are aiming to revamp the former manufacturing space on the corner of Irving Avenue and Troutman Street by early spring of 2020, which will house a so-called “LAN center” with some 30 computers, and an event space that holds around 100 people with a stage for competitions of popular e-sports titles, such as Fortnite, Overwatch, Counter-Strike, and Rocket League.
The space will also feature a bar, kitchen and gaming consoles near the entrance, along with rooms for teams to practice on six machines and another section devoted to live-streaming and podcast recording, according to Polsley.
Polsley hopes to also host sessions for tabletop games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, along with classic games like the 2007 first-person shooter Halo 3.
The arsenal of high-powered PCs could also be used for educational events such as classes on programming and game design, according to Polsley.
E-sports has become increasingly popular in the borough, with several massive gaming events at Barclays Center and a pop-up arena in Boerum Hill.
But Kings County controller jockeys have long had to venture to Manhattan or distant New Jersey in search of similar gaming venues, according to Polsley, and the entrepreneur hopes the Bushwick venue will become a new home for e-athletes across the city.
“The e-sports scene over the last couple of years has definitely grown,” he said. “We hope to have a tournament circuit going on for the community.”
