Taoiseach Micheál Martin with Kayls Cole and Daire McCormack. Image: Gerard McCarthy
The centre represents a €1m investment in state-of-the-art gaming infrastructure.
Ireland officially has its first national e-sports centre, which opened in Cork over the weekend.
Launched by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, TD, the National Esports Centre will be a hub for gaming talent, e-sports education, competitions and gaming research.
The new centre represents a €1m investment in state-of-the-art gaming infrastructure and will create 10 new jobs, with further positions expected in gaming, media and digital technology as the hub expands.
Located on South Mall in the centre of Cork City, the centre is home to a range of facilities, including a dedicated sim racing lounge, a tournament zone equipped for national and international e-sports competitions and an e-sports academy created by Wylde, an Irish e-sports company co-owned by Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt.
The centre is also primed for corporate events, training sessions and digital content creation with AV and broadcast technology and it will serve as a training ground for Irish and international e-sports teams ahead of events such as the European Esports Championships in July 2025 and the inaugural Olympic Esports Games in 2027.
Speaking at the opening, Martin said the centre marks “a major milestone” for Ireland’s gaming sector.
“This innovative hub will offer unparalleled facilities in gaming, media and digital technology, and I’m delighted it will place Cork on the global stage of gaming.”
Wylde CEO Steve Daly said the facility will help drive the e-sports industry in Ireland forward.
“Our focus on dynamic teaching environments, collaborative learning and innovation, sustainable career pathways and a responsible culture will ensure that the National Esports Centre stands at the forefront of e-sports development both in Ireland and globally,” he said.
Void Interactive, an Ireland-based gaming studio, has also partnered with the new e-sports centre.
Philip Nathan, CFO of the studio said: “We are focused on building a lasting partnership that further strengthens the gaming footprint in Ireland, providing a haven for groundbreaking ideas to flourish.”
Ireland’s e-sports ecosystem has been steadily growing for several years now. In 2022, Riot Games announced plans to open an e-sports broadcast centre in Dublin. And in 2023, Red Bull unveiled a gaming hub in Waterford to boost the gaming sector in Ireland and support the development of third-level gamers.
Ireland is also home to Europe’s first e-sports research lab at Lero, the Research Ireland Centre for Software, which is led by Dr Mark Campbell.
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