On Jan. 17, the City of Atlanta opened the MLK Jr. Recreation & Aquatic Center’s Hi-Speed Hi-Tech Computer Lab and E-sports Gaming Center with the goal of making a space to have fun and to learn technical skills in game development and design.
The project was a joint effort between the Department of Parks and Recreation, the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation, Sole Play, and the Cxmmunity Foundation.
The City of Atlanta shared a post on X:
Mayor Dickens was particularly vocal about the e-sports lab and its potential for empowering youth.
“This isn’t just about esports — it’s about opportunity. Whether it’s learning how to design sneakers, exploring tech, or just having a safe space to grow and create, this lab is here to inspire,” Dickens wrote in an Instagram post. “Atlanta’s youth are the future, and together, we’re making sure they have what they need to succeed. Let’s keep building, Atlanta!”
The Department of Parks and Recreation invested $95,000 in the project, according to the AJC, and features 20 gaming PCs in addition to other features like Macbooks for AI education.
Career opportunities
The MLK Jr. Recreation & Aquatic Center’s Hi-Speed Hi-Tech Computer Lab and E-sports Gaming Center is the second center of its kind in the city. The first one, located in Thomasville, launched in Oct. of 2023.
The Cxmmunity Foundation, a nonprofit focused on increasing access to the digital entertainment industry and one of the partners for the newest lab, says the investment in these centers extend far beyond a recreational place of play.
“The Cxmmunity Foundation serves diverse markets across the U.S., focusing on more than just gameplay; we emphasize key industry pillars like game development, production, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship,” said Julian Fitzgerald, executive director of the foundation. “Partnering with our sister company, Cxmmunity Media, we reach over 48 HBCUs through our HBCU Esports League and another 50 K-12 sites through our foundation’s efforts… together, we’re bringing the same exciting possibilities for the city’s future workforce.”
Cxmmunity recently hosted a $500,000 esports event, said Fitzgerald, which welcomed the Mayor’s Office of Technology and Innovation Director, Donnie Beamer.
Beamer expressed his excitement for another e-sports-oriented computer lab that is helping to fulfill the mayor’s mandate to make Atlanta a top-five tech hub city.
He also sees it as an investment in another mantra of Mayor Dickens: wanting Atlanta to be the best place to raise a child, which saw a lot of emphasis last year with the city’s Year of the Youth campaign.
Beamer, like many children, heard the infamous “video games will rot your brain” growing up.
“They didn’t really understand the benefits of it…. building grit and resilience and discipline and competitiveness,” Beamer said. “There are benefits from the actual craft of gaming that exceed what I think people appreciated back then.”
Now, it seems people are finally beginning to see the opportunities that lie within the gaming industry — an industry that, globally, dwarfs even some of Atlanta’s most notable industries.
“It’s a growing industry, especially in Georgia — one that they talk about how it’s bigger than the music and film industry combined. So there’s a lot of job opportunities in it,” Beamer said. “I see it as a Trojan horse; you can use this — something that people are already doing — and then show them those other opportunities…the different careers as a developer, designer, or in e-sports in production or broadcast, then you can find a way to engage them that feels much more welcome and authentic.”
Beamer added that space is an asset in three ways: awareness, so that people are aware of the opportunities within the industry, access, in giving people the skills to do the work and getting them connected with industry professionals, and finally interest, or simply ensuring that the center is attractive to make people come in the first place.
Beyond video games, the city’s workforce development has been paying for things like certifications in UX design and project management certifications for residents, which is something they’d like to see extended through this new center. Last go-around, over 400 people applied and the city could only afford to pay for 100 of them.
Having labs located closer to folks — meeting people where they are — could make more classes like those accessible to the public and create a stronger workforce within the city that’s positioning itself as a tech hub.
Gameful pedagogy
The center will focus on exploring all the different possibilities within the e-sports world — everything from competitive gamers to being the one who designs the games themselves.
The potential of the hi-tech computer lab has the potential to go even beyond that, though, and extend into the education sphere.
While the idea of leaning into video games as a tool for learning may still be a strange concept, the reality is that the design principles of video games are being studied for their effectiveness.
Gameful pedagogy is an emerging school of thought that takes “inspiration from how good games function, and applies that to the design of learning environments” according to the University of Michigan’s Center for Academic Innovation’s gameful pedagogy website.
The website outlines four key principles of gameful pedagogy: choice, [immediate] feedback, freedom to fail and building points from zero — as opposed to “losing” points like the traditional educational system.
These pillars, present in a wide variety of video games, are precisely the pillars that can be used for more engaged learning and teaching.
Common apps found on peoples’ phones have already been using a gamification approach for user retention, sometimes without the users even realizing it. One of the most widely recognized examples of this would be Duolingo, with a streak system that keeps users motivated to use the app consistently, the ability to earn “gems” or points, “hearts” representing digital language-learning lives, immediate feedback, choice of style of learning, and opportunities to continue learning when you fail.
In short, it takes a page right out of the gameful pedagogy playbook.
Research about gamification, while still emerging, seems to suggest that education built with these design principles may be especially adept for retaining interest and engagement in an ever-distracting world of smartphones and social media.
In short, it could be not just another distraction but one of the tools for deep learning in a world competing for the attention of the youth. So while the center is just starting up, the potential to learn and apply game design principles is yet another opportunity being made possible with the project.
If nothing else, though, the center at minimum seems like it will be able to mimic the success of the first gaming center in Thomasville, which sits in the poorest census tract in Georgia and saw dozens of young people using the center every week, according to Beamer, along with people traveling from other parts of the city to use the resource.
If it can do that — simply act as a public space that inspires — that may be worth all the investment alone and enough to justify even more centers like it in the future.
“It would be great if this is an asset that’s in every neighborhood, that way you could have a league that exists for ongoing play,” said Beamer, likening the potential to something like a basketball league across schools.
The thrill of sports lies in the intensity, strategy, and passion that players bring to the game. Whether it’s the final seconds of a basketball game, a last-minute goal in soccer, or a photo finish in racing, sports keep us on the edge of our seats. Beyond the competition, they teach us resilience, teamwork, and dedication—qualities that extend far beyond the playing field.
football stats
This is an amazing initiative! The MLK Jr. Recreation & Aquatic Center’s Hi-Tech Computer Lab and E-sports Gaming Center will surely inspire many young minds. It’s exciting to see how gaming can be a gateway to learning new skills and exploring career opportunities. Speaking of innovative gaming experiences, have you checked out wheelie life? It’s a great example of how games can combine fun and creativity!
This is fantastic news! The $95,000 investment and partnership with organizations like Sole Play and Cxmmunity Foundation really show a commitment to bridging the digital divide. I love that Mayor Dickens highlighted opportunities beyond just gaming—AI education with Macbooks and sneaker design are exactly the kind of creative tech skills that can open doors for youth. Having visited similar labs in other cities, I’ve seen how they foster both technical and social growth. This second center is a great step, and I hope other cities follow Atlanta’s lead in making tech accessible and fun.