A former car showroom has been transformed into a multimillion-pound Esports arena.

The 15,000 sq ft (1.4 sq m) venue in Sunderland, which has opened alongside the National Esports Performance Campus, is designed to host major, live competitions and provide training and education facilities for players and industry professionals.

Esports involves competitive video gaming, with tournaments attracting millions of players and spectators as well as offering prize money of millions of pounds.

British Esports, the national esports federation for the UK, said the facility was the first of its kind in Europe and was going to be "a huge showcase of what the UK can do".

The arena's opening comes after the inaugural International Defence of Esport Games took place at the weekend, with military personnel from nine countries competing across four titles.

Visionary president of British Esports, Chester King, said the scale of the industry was often underestimated.

"Korea and Saudi Arabia have a similar set up to what we've got but that's it, so we're hoping this is going to be a huge showcase of what the UK can do.

"We talk about it being the biggest niche that no one's heard of, but I think if you add up all the different titles, you've got billions of people playing but also watching as well," he said.

"There was a tournament five years ago where a British player came second, won a million dollars, bought the house that he was living in for his mother.

"Forty-million people entered the tournament that he came second in."

King said the city's ambitions to develop its digital infrastructure helped persuade British Esports to establish the venue.

"When I met the council, and heard their ambition to make it the most digital city in the country - it just felt that it was the right time," King said.

"I used to work at Wembley and I saw the growth around the football stadium and what they've done and obviously being next to the Stadium of Light was just another huge tick for us."

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