RALEIGH – Home top multi-billion-dollar video game powerhouse Epic Games, the Raleigh metro area is the 10th best in the country for “Gamers,” says a new study from financial news and information site WalletHub.
However, since Epic is based in Cary, Raleigh’s score could have been even better since WalletHub didn’t take into account adjacent areas.
“The study considers each city proper, excluding surrounding metro areas,” a WalletHub spokesperson tells WRAL TechWire.
Durham, meanwhile, came in 48th.
Across North Carolina, Charlotte came in at No. 24 with Greensboro at No. 92 and Winston-Salem at No. 94.
https://wraltechwire.com/2019/05/24/raleigh-tapped-to-host-six-major-esports-event/
As WalletHub notes, gaming is very big business – and growing as Fortnite’s success clearly demonstrates with hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and well over 100 million players.
“Gaming is serious business. Globally, it’s an over $130 billion industry,” WalletHub points out. “That’s unsurprising with the number of ways there are to enjoy video games in the present day, from consoles by Nintendo, PlayStation and Microsoft to gaming PCs and mobile devices to simply watching others stream on a platform like Twitch or YouTube. And professional esports are projected to have more viewers in total than all
https://wraltechwire.com/2019/05/28/by-hiring-esports-overwatch-league-exec-epic-games-moves-to-expand-its-empire/professional sports leagues except the NFL by 2021.”
Boosting Raleigh was WalletHub’s assessment of Internet availability and quality in which the City of Oaks came in No. 2.
The Triangle region itself has long been an active hub for the gaming industry, from Epic and its creation of the globally popular Fortnite, to Red Storm Entertainment, best known for Tom Clancy-themed tech-military thrillers. Wake Tech, meanwhile, has a growing and very active program for game developers.
But the WalletHub study takes into consideration a variety of factors in compiling its list:
- Gaming environment
- Internet quality and coverage
- Game developer opportunities
In those categories, Raleigh ranked No. 10, No. 2 and No. 29 respectively.
The study broke down its data to show Raleigh as:
- 46th – Avg. Internet Speed
- 29th – Video-Game Job Openings per Capita
- 14th – Internet Cost
- 26th – Video-Game Stores per Capita
- 36th – Arcades per Capita
- 16th – Number of Esports Tournaments
Durham came in at No. 62 for gaming environment, No. 43 for Internet quality and coverage, and No. 31 for game developer opportunities.
Here’s a further breakdown for Durham:
- 28th – Avg. Internet Speed
- 57th – Video-Game Job Openings per Capita
- 25th – Internet Cost
- 65th – Computer Stores per Capita (there was no data available for Durham for video game stores per capita)
- 76th – Arcades per Capita
- 16th – Number of Esports Tournaments
Raleigh recently was named as a host for a major esports tournament. And Epic has plans to expand Fortnite into the esports domain.
The news comes days before the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the top trade show for the gaming industry. Epic and Red Storm annually have a major presence at the show.
Read more about the study online.
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