Industry
June 20th, 2022 — Japanese esports organization FENNEL Esports has reached a partnership agreement with Vertex Co., Ltd., a real estate business located in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo (新宿区), to open a 39-unit apartment complex in Kōtō-ku, Tokyo (江東区). But, it has a slight quirk - it is made specifically for gamers. Each room , aside from having a mattress and a separated bathroom area , is equipped with a gaming PC, top-notch peripherals, and SONY Group’s NURO Hikari, one of the fastest fiber internet services in all of Japan.
Plenty Peripherals
From one of Japan's leading esports orgs, you can only expect the best. “A high-spec gaming environment with perfect attention to every corner.” Each room is set up with gaming equipment valued up to roughly 759,000¥ or $5589 US. This price measurement includes the PC, both monitors, keyboard, mouse and mousepad, headset, and ergonomic chair. While the original partnership announcement article written in Japanese only listed a few of the peripherals provided, FENNEL has confirmed with BLIX the complete list of equipment that will decorate every room; some of the best brand names for gaming gear in the world.
The peripherals are as follows:
- PC: “GALLERIA ZA9C-R39 Z590”
- Monitors: “BenQ Zowie XL2546” and “BenQ Zowie XL2540”
- Keyboard: “HyperX Alloy Origins RGB”
- Mouse: “HyperX Pulsefire Dart RGB”
- Mousepad: “HyperX FURY S - Speed Edition Pro”
- Headset: “HyperX Cloud MIX Gaming Headset”
- Chair: “EXRACING Gaming Chair with Ottoman”
Gaming setups inside the Fennel propertiesDandy Details
Each unit is 9.65m by 10.34m, equating to an area of just under 100 square meters (1,074 square feet). This is the area where you will find the mattress and gaming setup. Balconies come with every room, those having an area of just over 15 square meters (162 square feet). Additionally, there is an “exclusive area,” although it is unsure what it comprises, which is 737 square meters (7,933 square feet) .
Each unit costs 126,000¥ ($925.82) to rent out monthly. This is a final price; the payment includes “management fees,” internet service, security system, and rental of all peripherals.
In the price that may appear quite hefty to some, location convenience plays a big role. Public and on-foot transportation is all you will need in the Monzennakacho (Monnaka) area of Kōtō-ku. The nearest train station, which can take you around the 23 special wards of Tokyo, is only a five minute walk away. The apartment complex itself is surrounded by “taste and peace.” Known for its Edo-era attractions and for being one of Tokyo’s best coffee hubs, Monnaka renders a great gradient of old and new Tokyo.
While this idea seems innovative, it is actually not the first of its kind, not even in Japan. Basara Co., Ltd., or Basara Gaming, a multi-purpose esports organization, talent development agency, and business company was the first to come out with the concept of gaming rental rooms. Earlier this year in February, Basara Gaming announced its new business model: the “e-room.”
Co-developed with First Launch Co., Ltd., the e-room presents itself in three different packages to cater to the budget and needs of each tenant. The “Original package is a room for the casual gamer that can also be used for any general desk work jobs and other production roles within the industry. The “Creator” package is a room designed specifically for content creators and video producers. Finally, the “Gaming” package is a room for competitive gamers and esports professionals.
The prices are not too intimidating either. The “Gaming” package has three different price plans: the 39,000¥ ($287) a month plan, which comes with a lower-end PC setup, a GeForce GTX1650 PC with an Intel Core i7 processor and 480GB of SSD. The 59,000¥ ($434) a month plan, which comes with a GeForce RTX3060 PC with an Intel Core i5 10400F and 1TB of SSD. The most luxurious is a 69,000¥ ($507) a month plan, which comes with a more exquisite PC setup: a GeForce RTX3070Ti PC, an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor and 1TB of SSD.
The “Creator” package has two different price plans: the 39,000¥ ($287) a month plan, which comes with a GeForce GTX1050Ti PC with an Intel Core i7 processor and 1TB of SSD; and the 59,000¥ ($434) a month plan, which comes with a GeForce RTX3060 PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processor and 2TB of SSD and 6TB of HDD.
All e-rooms are located in the city of Sendai-shi (仙台市) with goals of expanding them throughout the country. Of course, in the long-run, building your own PC setup in the comfort of your own home will be more financially worthwhile. But if you’re looking to get away for some time, or are a foreigner visiting for a month or so, then there could not be a more perfect new experience waiting for you. We rented video games at first, but now we rent rooms and setups to play.
Curious to hear their interest in esports, BLIX reached out to Kajio Yuji, CEO at Vertex, but no response was received from the Japanese real estate firm nor any of its representatives within the publishing date of this article.