The 2.4m waterfront destination at Al Qana aims to attract gamers to the UAE capital by offering something for everyone.
Pixoul Gaming, the virtual reality (VR) and Esports hub, will open later this year at Al Qana in Abu Dhabi. It is expected to open in the next few months, but an exact date has not yet been announced.
Pixoul Gaming will be launching the esports academy in the Middle East and will host global gaming tournaments in its 800-seat capacity arena. The academy also includes an Esports bar, a gaming community twist on a typical sports bar.
Pixoul Gaming is an integrated, immersive entertainment destination through its elaborate Virtual Reality Gaming Zone. While the Esports Academy provides a focused training facility for serious gaming athletes.
With its array of VR, retro, console, mobile, and Esports games, Pixoul Gaming will also cater to the entire gaming ecosystem – from game development and education to immersive experiences, from professional solo, multi-player and team gaming to hosting global gaming festivals. Esports is one of the fastest-growing industries in the Mena region. The UAE’s digital gaming sector is estimated to reach $930m by 2025, and Pixoul Gaming will highlight Abu Dhabi as the global leader in Esports, broadcasting to millions of fans.
Paul Hamilton, General Manager at Pixoul Gaming, said” “As an integrated, immersive entertainment destination with the region’s first Esports Academy, Pixoul Gaming has the potential to redefine the modern gaming experience. We believe that everyone should be a gamer today as Esports fosters creativity, encourages problem-solving, and builds leadership skills. So, we designed Pixoul Gaming to offer a new world of digital amusement and showcase Abu Dhabi as a global leader in Esports and digital entertainment.”
Hamilton added: “The goal is to bring serious gaming into the Middle East, to train professionals at our Academy to compete on a global level while also hosting the international tournaments in our elite coliseum of gaming where the biggest, best gamers on the planet will perform to a live audience of 800+, watched by millions across the world.
“The venue is almost complete, and we’ll be ready to welcome gamers by Q4 of 2022. We are working with the leading international experts and technology partners such as Robocom VR to offer our guests the latest and the best experience.”
Pixoul Planet VR will offer 10 virtual and augmented reality games, in partnership with Robocom VR, that range from first-person shooters to roller coasters, paragliding and escape rooms. They will last between six and 10 minutes and feature the region’s first fully wireless headsets in an open-world cross-platform metaverse.
Karim Ibrahim, Co-founder of Pixoul Gaming and CEO of Robocom VR, commented: “As technology partners and creators of this custom-built VR mission, we are excited to take gamers on an unprecedented adventure across cinematic and interactive experiences. At Robocom VR, our mission is to innovate the static gaming experience, inviting users to a portal into new dimensions of gaming and take control over their destiny while fully immersed in Virtual Reality Entertainment.
“At Pixoul Gaming, we have introduced the region’s first fully wireless headsets in an open-world cross-platform metaverse. With no unnecessary cables or heavy backpacks, the HTC Focus 3 headsets are fully synced with 4D and motion platform simulators to blur virtual reality’s boundaries ultimately. Across these ten integrated experiences, each lasting six to10 minutes, there is a never before seen journey of flight & racing simulators, escape rooms, shooting games, paragliding, and rollercoasters – promising to push the boundaries of human imagination and set new standards of interactive and immersive entertainment.”
As the flagship experience, the Pixoul Planet VR houses 10 different virtual and augmented reality games, including everything from shooters, and virtual roller coasters, to guided spaceship tours of the new intergalactic planet, Pixoul.
At the first Esports Academy in the Middle East, coaches will be able to train individual gamers and teams, offering tips on how to improve their skills. It will also invite champion professional gamers to hold one-on-one training sessions with students.
The Dean of the Academy will oversee the teaching schedule and certifications and ensure that consumers are empowered with the tools and knowledge to play responsibly.
