In the last few years eSport has taken off in a big way. It’s big business already in East Asia and North America where stadiums are booked for tournaments and thousands fill the seats in them to watch pro gamers play competitive games at the highest level. Now the UK is set to join the eSports boom, with the opening of the UK’s first eSports arena in London.

A partnership between VUE cinemas and Gfinity has transformed part of the Vue Fulham Broadway into a dedication 600 person eSports venue that will be named the Gfinity Arena. It has seating for over 1000 people over a weekend and 25,000 throughout a season, and will include a player lounge big enough for 50 gamers, its own entrances, a ticketing hall, automated tickets machines and a confectionery stall.

It’s due to open next month and will kick off with what’s being called the “2015 Gfinity Champtionships” which will include within it such popular eSports games as Hearthstone, FIFA and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. There’s around a combined $500,000 in prize money put up for grabs for the highest scorers in the championships.

If the Gfinity proves to be successful, we could see more eSports arenas being set up all the way across the UK.