Meltdown is a French bar chain dedicated to video games and

eSports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

History

Based on the idea of a permanent

Barcraft The real time strategy (RTS) computer game ''StarCraft'' had an active professional competition circuit, particularly in South Korea. The two major game channels in South Korea, Ongamenet and MBCGame, each ran a Starleague ( Ongamenet Starleagu ...

, the first bar Meltdown was established in 2012 in Paris in a small bistro on

rue Albert-Thomas ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of '' Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its blui ...

. It streamed

competitions and had computers and consoles available for use by its clientele. The bar moved to a new location on , in the

11th arrondissement of Paris The 11th arrondissement of Paris (''XIe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''onzième''. The arrondissement, called Popincourt, is situated on ...

on December 21, 2013. Meltdown is developing in France and abroad with a franchise platform. There are 20 bars in 7 countries. Meltdown Paris Competition League of Legends

Meltdown Paris Competition League of Legends

Model

Meltdown has a menu of cocktails inspired by the video game universe. A schedule, varying depending on the city, highlights one specific game each day of the week, with the organisation of a free access tournament. Outside of tournament hours, computers and consoles are available for customers to play games. Meltdown bars broadcast major

competitions on their screens. Meltdown has had a presence at gaming conventions such as

Paris Games Week Paris Games Week, or simply PGW, is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in Paris, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It ...

and Dreamhack.

Professional Players

A team of professional players was created by Meltdown in 2014. The first player to wear its colors was Olivier "Louffy" Hay, followed by Ilyes "Stephano" Satouri. The player Florent "Neo" Lecoanet, a world champion of ''Super Mario Kart'', has since joined the team.

Expansion

The creation of the Meltdown franchise was announced in March 2013."Reportage - Un bar dedié l'e-sport"
/ref> The bars currently open are: * France: ** Paris (opened on May 1, 2012 - new location as of December 21, 2013 - relocated September 19, 2020) **

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

(opened on July 12, 2014) **

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

(opened on January 10, 2015) ** Tours (opened on April 16, 2016) ** Lyon (opened on April 30, 2016) **

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

(opened on October 15, 2016) ** Dijon (opened on April 29, 2017) ** Marseille (opened on September 22, 2018) ** Pau (opened on September 29, 2018) ** Chambéry (opened on December 1, 2018) **

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

(opened on January 19, 2019) **

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

(opened on May 18, 2019) ** Nancy (opened on October 26, 2019) *Other countries: ** London (United Kingdom, opened on June 1, 2013) ** Cologne (Germany, opened on January 30, 2016) ** Brussels (Belgium, opened on May 7, 2016) ** Montreal (Canada, opened on July 30, 2016) ** Madrid (Spain, opened on February 18, 2017) ** Barcelona (Spain, opened on November 3, 2018) ** Panama City (Panama, opened on December 14, 2018) **

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

(Spain, opened on March 30, 2019) ** Sheffield (United Kingdom, opened on May 11, 2019)

References

{{Authority control 2012 establishments in France Drinking establishments in Paris Esports in France Video game culture