WeWork Plans “Play By We” Esports Division

Real Estate company WeWork has released job listings and legal filings that show their plans to launch a new esports related venture. The new division, dubbed Play By We, will focus on renting spaces for esports tournaments and other gaming-related events.

WeWork has already started to hire new employees to oversee this expansion. This isn’t the first time that the company has focused on a niche market. Play By We will join WeWork’s co-living division WeLive, their education division WeGrow, and their fitness division Rise By We.

Image via AFP

With over 850 rental locations in 123 cities worldwide, WeWork has the opportunity to easily host esports events across the globe. With location-based teams becoming more prevalent in popular esports like Overwatch and Call of Duty, WeWork may be able to form partnerships with esports organizations.

This could allow these groups to schedule events across the world at one of WeWork’s many locations. WeWork may also be able to make it easier for teams to find places to live and train while traveling.

Play By We: Players’ Home Away from Home

WeWork can provide co-living spaces for esports teams, most of whom already live in a shared house. This can be especially useful when teams are traveling and need to find comfortable accommodations. WeWork also plans to offer co-gaming spaces for teams to train on state-of-the-art equipment without making a huge investment up front.

Currently, teams are forced to take their equipment with them, which can be costly and time-consuming. As with co-living, these co-gaming spaces would make it much easier for teams to travel abroad.

With this new expansion, WeWork will be joining the growing number of companies hoping to cash in on esports. Even though many companies have no relation to esports, the rapidly growing industry continues to draw attention. For example, retail chain Five Below recently announced plans to build esports arenas in some of its stores.

Another example includes Black Ridge Oil & Gas, which invested in the company now known as Allied Esports. In July, Allied Esports also received an investment from the mall company Simon Property Group.

It seems that many outside companies want to take their share of the esports industry boom. It appears that WeWork has found its way to do so. Although many of the plans for Play By We are yet to be released, it’s possible that it may provide a full ecosystem for esports teams to live, train, travel, and compete.

Written by Efren Hurtado