With live video game tournaments growing in prominence and popularity, Canadian exhibitor Cineplex is jumping on the bandwagon with a live eSports tournament from Cologne, Germany scheduled for screens this summer.

The entertainment company’s push into the eSports arena starts with the screening of Patrick Creado’s All Work All Play: The Pursuit of eSports Glory Live, a documentary about the global expansion of the industry. The doc will bow on Sunday, July 21, and following the screening, Cineplex will live-stream a panel discussion and gaming demo conducted in the ESL studios in Burbank, California.

In addition, Cineplex will offer a live screening of the ESL One Cologne 2015: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Finals. The three-hour event will be broadcast from Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany, the second-largest stadium in Europe, on Sunday Aug. 23. YouTuber and eSports commentator Soe Gschwind-Penksi (Soembie), will host the event for cinema audiences.

According to game-industry data co Superdata, the North American eSports market is worth $143 million in 2015 (direct and indirect revenue), has 134 million worldwide followers and has attracted corporate sponsorship in the range of $111 million in 2015.

Mike Langdon, director of communications, Cineplex Entertainment, says the expansion into eSports is all part of the company’s aim to provide programming that draws people into theatres.

There aren’t any announcements planned around Cineplex hosting an eSports tournament of its own as of yet, says Langdon, even though the company did host an event in the fall of 2013 for the launch of EA SPORTS NHL 14 at its Yonge-Dundas theatre. That event drew 100 gamers, with Langdon remarking that people stayed to watch after they were knocked out of contention.

Tickets for All Work All Play: The Pursuit of eSports Glory Live and the live screening of the ESL One Cologne 2015: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Finals go on sale tomorrow.

– From Media in Canada 

– Image courtesy of Shutterstock