Guild Esports, the London-based esports organization part-owned by David Beckham, has launched a new sim driving facility at its HQ in London to find, train, and encourage the next generation of competitive racing talent in the U.K. and beyond–both in gaming and real life.
The Sky Guild Gaming Centre in Shoreditch, which opened its doors in 2022, now houses six state-of-the-art sim racing rigs and will serve as the training facility for Guild’s competitive sim racing team and academy drivers, but will also act as a community space for aspiring challengers to enter an esport Guild believes has a “notoriously high barrier to entry.”
Guild, which claims the sport has lacked a “path to pro” route for those from underprivileged and diverse backgrounds, will operate a membership program for prospective racers, who can pay a monthly fee of £59.99 ($73) to access its setup, which uses Assetto Corsa to teach its attendees. Memberships will include two monthly sessions and access to all telemetric data to demonstrate areas of improvement.
Guild Esports entered sim racing in 2023, following a successful £600,000 ($734,000) fundraiser, but it has already found success. Remy Gilbert, who joined the organization in the same month alongside teammates Brandon Abraham and Ryan Ward, currently sits in the top five of the FIA-backed British Formula 4 Esports Championship.
The company appears to be seizing on the success of this year’s Gran Turismo movie, based on the real-life story of British sim racer turned track driver Jann Mardenborough.
Jasmine Skee, who became the UK’s only female CEO of a publicly listed esports organization when she took Guild’s top role in January, said: “We’re proud to officially launch our sim racing facility to the public. Encouraging diversity at all levels of the esports industry is a cornerstone of everything we do at Guild, and we see the opening of our sim racing facility as another step towards that goal.
“It will be one of the first purpose-built dedicated sim racing training facilities in London and a huge step up into the world of sim racing and Formula 1 for those who aren’t able to pay the steep cost of a personal sim racing rig–a barrier for many prospective talented racers.”
If you’re in or around London and want to try sim racing at the new facility, you can register your interest in Guild Esports’ program here.
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