Thinking of opening up an internet cafe in Toronto (and some ideas to promote playing LoL at one)
So a couple of friends of mine are thinking about starting up an internet cafe in downtown Toronto (Near Dundas or so.. close to Ryerson University) and I'm wondering would any of you guys play at an internet cafe if there was one? I know there aren't many in Toronto but I think the market is there. This is just an idea right now while we are working the numbers (rent is expensive!) and talking to potential business partners but we are committed to it and will definitely open up in the future.
All the nearby schools (George Brown, Ryerson, UofT) are all commuter schools and have a large amount of international students from Asia. Being from Asia myself I know that Internet Cafes are very big there, and is a big part of the social experience. I also have contacts who are close friends with a popular pro player (can't leak that yet!) and I know a guy who owns a bubble tea franchise and we might partner up to serve some awesome drinks. Some computer stores have also expressed interest in sponsoring our cafe. We are also looking to improve the experience vs your typical internet cafe by using better peripherals like mechanical keyboards etc. I have reached out to some gaming peripheral companies regarding this idea as well, so it could be pretty exciting!
So basically at the front we have a lounge area about 700 sq ft with a couple of tables so people can chill and eat food/drink bubble tea and have the computers in the back.
And now for the real question: Why pay to play League at an internet cafe when you can play at home?
As you may know in Korean PC bangs, if you play League on their computers your account will receive a 20% ip boost as well as have all the champions unlocked while you are there. I reached out to Riot regarding this matter and if there was a possibility of that happening in NA, but unfortunately they could not give me any details and said I would have better chances of getting a good reply if I posted to the forums. If any Rioters are reading this I would love to have a chat with you! I also didn't get to play with rioters to celebrate my 1000th win, so you guys owe me one ;)
Another idea to incentivize playing League at an internet cafe would be RP. Play X amount of hours, receive X amount of RP. Now wouldn't that be awesome? Or what about queuing up with your buddies (or strangers) for even more bonus ip?
Again, this is still in its baby stages right now but I am confident in my business partners and other prospects to make it work. Thanks for reading!