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Esports Arena Oakland will close down permanently

Esports Arenas across the country are opening their doors again, but the Oakland facility will not be among them, as they've announced their permanent closure.

Ozzie Mejia

June 23, 2020 6:55 PM

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Whether anybody likes it or not, the country is starting to reopen. No, COVID-19 is not over. In fact, the number of cases appear to be rising at an alarming rate, but enough about that. It's time to reopen, America! And that includes the Esports Arena franchise. Well... almost every location. If you were holding your breath for the Oakland location to open back up, there's some bad news for you.

Regarding Esports Arena Oakland pic.twitter.com/ZQ8P8c7cQH

— Esports Arena Oakland (@ESAOakland) June 24, 2020

Esports Arena Oakland took a massive hit due to a variety of issues. The most obvious one is the COVID-19 pandemic (which, just to remind readers, is still not over), which forced its closure in March. But with ongoing civil unrest in the area combined with the high operating costs in the state of California, the Esports Arena team can no longer afford to stay in business in the city. The venue will shut down after nearly three years in business.

The posted statement on the ESA Oakland Twitter account redirects patrons to the Roseville Esports Arena location. That location, along with the Spokane Valley location, are scheduled to reopen on July 2. This comes on the heels of Orlando, Kansas City, Detroit, Scottdale, Cincinnati, Raleigh, Nashville, Austin, and Chicago's locations all opening their doors over the weekend. The original Esports Arena location in Santa Ana, CA does not yet have a date as to when it'll open. The HyperX Esports Arena in Las Vegas will hold a reopening party on Thursday, July 25.

The Esports Arena team notes that all locations will be compliant with local COVID-19 regulations. This includes clean stations, social distancing requirements, hand sanitizer availability, and on-staff workers all wearing masks.

While esports hasn't reached the point where they want to hold major local tournaments just yet, the Esports Arena locations will allow for users to try out the latest games like Valorant and Apex Legends. Weekly online tournaments will also remain available for those who want to stay safe at home.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?