South Africa’s  “Mother City,” Cape Town opened a request for information (RFI) to service providers which could design and deliver local area network {LAN} gaming as a service across its public venues.

Once granted, Cape Town will provide a safe and inclusive gaming experiences, including tournaments with prizes, offline LAN play, and subscription-based gaming services. This venture will see the city became an e-sports heaven.

The City will use of public venues such as; Libraries, recreational centers and sports to host supervised, age-appropriate gaming activities that are “competitive, yet fun.” LAN gaming hubs will enable local multiplayer events, leagues, and tournaments. These hubs use locally networked PCs for players to compete against one another.

“It aims to gather market intelligence, capabilities, best practices, commercial models, and risk considerations to inform a potential formal procurement process,” Cape Town representative explained.

The RFI considers titles like Minecraft, LEGO games, Overcooked, Moving Out, Plants vs. Zombies, Just Dance, as well as sports, racing, and fighting games, appropriate.

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Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Collaborations

Cape Town also wants to explore subscription gaming services, with the RFI specifically mentioning Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus to “simplify content curation, licensing, updates, and cost predictability.”

The RFI is asking for recommended specifications for entry-level to mid-tier LAN gaming PCs, appropriate operating system versions, and warranty refresh cycles.

On the console side, it is asking for affordable options for Xbox Series S/X and PlayStation 5 devices, including bundle offers, controller counts, and local multiplayer considerations. The City is also looking into accessibility in gaming, highlighting the Xbox Adaptive Controller and other visual or audio accessibility settings, as well as inclusive seating.

South Africa’s e-sports market is expected to increase to a value of R18.6 million in 2032, or a growth of 23.23% between 2023 and 2032, according to market research firm Data Bridge.