One-of-a-kind esports bar opening in Auburn Hills

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (FOX 2) - On the outside, it might look like a casual restaurant. But on the inside, Gametime Detroit is anything but casual.

Opening this Friday, Gametime is a one-of-a-kind esports facility in Auburn Hills for players from beginner to professionals with dozens of gaming stations, a bar, a kitchen and patio.

"Adults can come and they can drink and they can have fun and they can play some games, and it's also a place where you can bring your family and sit, have lunch and watch them play," said Gametime employee Marquela Aguilaera.

Step one, pick a plan. You can play by the hour, get yourself a membership or choose from several other options. Step two, create a username, or use an account you already have. Step three, select a game -- from Overwatch to FIFA19  to Rocket League and beyond. Oh, and you can play with your friends -- on the big screens. 

"You guys can connect to the same server in Minecraft, for instance, and build your same buildings together, or join into the same party on Fortnite and play in the same Fortnite game -- anything that you guys want to do, together as a team, can be done here," said Devin Murray.

They also offer a private room to stream on Twitch or record podcasts, and upstairs is a war-room type lounge, complete with it's own bar and gaming stations with quite the view. 

Gametime will be the official headquarters of the Renegades. The esports team, owned by former Detroit Piston (2009-15) and current Golden State Warrior Jonas Jerebko, features players that game at a professional level.

"As far as someone having this type of hardware and this type of space with bars and a restaurant, there's really nothing like it in the country," Murray said.

Murray has spent months wiring everything up -- no simple task. He says it's not just about the ability to play at a bar, it's the quality of the game play. For those familiar, he says each of their PCs is a top-of-the-line Alienware that have 9th generation I-7 CPUs with 16 gigs of RAM. Their video cards are in Nvidia GTX 280 Ti's.

For those unfamiliar with any of those terms: "What that means is we can play anything on the maximum settings from Pac-Man to the latest (virtual reality) titles to the latest AAA games, nothing can stop these things," Murray said.

You might think that this is best left for the experts, but those at all levels are encouraged to come by. 

"This place in general, it's not discriminatory of where you stand, depending on whatever game it is, you can come here and you can be a level 1 player, you can come here and be a professional, and they accept any sort of level," Aguilaera said. 

And these gaming systems and computers can be pretty costly -- not everyone can afford them.

"It also gives the opportunity to kids who might not have it to be able to come here and you learn, and I know they have some professional players that are going to do some training," she said.

For such a big project, it didn't take long to get the ball rolling. Murray said the set-up process took about six months, partnering with Beasley Media Group, Alienware, HyperX, Champion, NVIDIA and Respawn Products to make it all happen.

The official unveiling is at 6 p.m. Friday, June 28 at their location, 3880 Lapeer Road in Auburn Hills. Learn more and RVSP for the event here.