The problem was obvious, the solution took two years
Lyon has a strong gaming community. There are Discord servers with hundreds of members, student associations organizing esports events, and plenty of people with solid setups at home. What was missing was somewhere to play together that wasn't a bar with a few screens in the corner or an internet cafe with hardware that peaked in 2019.
We looked at what gaming centers were doing in other European cities — Amsterdam, Berlin, Warsaw — and what they were doing in Lyon specifically. The gap was clear: a space that took hardware seriously but didn't have the atmosphere of a competitive training facility. Somewhere you could bring someone who'd never held a controller and someone who plays at a semi-pro level and both of them would have a good evening.
Why Gerland
The 7th arrondissement made sense for a few reasons. The Gerland area has a mix of students from the technical universities, working professionals from the adjacent tech park, and a younger residential population that's grown considerably in the past few years. The Rue de Gerland location is three minutes on foot from the T2 metro stop, which means it's accessible from most of the city without a car.
We spent several months finding the right space. The building gave us enough floor area to do the stations properly — not cramped, with acoustic separation between different zones — and a private lounge area that can be closed off for events.
What we decided to build — and what we decided not to
A few things we knew from the start: no tiered PC hardware (it creates resentment and logistical headaches), no minimum time requirements under 30 minutes, no forced online accounts to walk in the door. We also decided to stay focused — gaming center, not a gaming bar. There's nothing wrong with gaming bars, they serve a different purpose, but we didn't want to dilute either side of the experience.
The event space came later, about four months in, when it became clear that groups were showing up and we didn't have a setup that let us actually serve them well. The lounge was the right call.