A National Esports Performance Campus is opening in Sunderland

The British Esports Association has announced that it’s opening an “esports performance and education campus” at Riverside Sunderland.

The National Esports Performance Campus (NEPC) will be located near the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, and will provide “state-of-the-art equipment, training and investment that will support Sunderland, the North East and the UK to become a globally-recognised esports hub capable of attracting and developing the world’s best esports talent,” according to a press release.

This campus will provide education and coaching courses for competitive players and those looking to work in other esports industry roles. The physical campus in Sunderland will include “dedicated esports classrooms” as well as streaming booths to practice casting and an arena space.

As well as training would-be pros, the National Esports Performance Campus will host “regular esports events, community tournaments and summer camps,” and provide a training location for the Great Britain esports team.

We’re extremely excited to announce that we are opening a game-changing National Esports Performance Campus in Sunderland.

Read the full press release ????

— British Esports Association (@British_Esports) January 18, 2022

British Esports Association CEO Chester King said that the campus is a “much-needed facility” and explained “Sunderland is a hugely ambitious and future-focused city and that aligns very much to BEA and esports”.

Sunderland City Council chief executive Patrick Melia said that “BEA’s move puts Sunderland at the beating heart of [esports], and we couldn’t be more pleased”. Similarly, Sunderland City Council’s leader – councillor Graeme Miller – said that the campus is “a game-changing development for Sunderland”.

The campus will reportedly open in summer 2022.

In other news, Stardew Valley creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Baron is working on another unannounced game. After teasing some early gameplay of Haunted Chocolatier back in 2021, Barone has revealed that he’s working on a third game as part of a bigger team – though he’s explained that he’s “not trying to make the next big indie hit” with his next projects.