Skillshot Media CEO Todd Harris wants a development in Lindbergh to become the nucleus of Atlanta’s growing esports market.
Harris is establishing a new gaming platform, Resurgens Gaming, that will be headquartered at Uptown Atlanta, a mostly empty development along busy Piedmont Road. Since owners Rubenstein Partners L.P. started renovating the development, it has caught the eye of expanding technology companies.
Resurgens Gaming is the parent company of Skillshot Media, an esports production company, and Ghost Gaming, an esports brand that has professional players across popular video game titles. Those companies will continue to operate separately under their same brands, Harris said.
Harris is now CEO of both Ghost Gaming and Skillshot Media. Nabil Ismail, co-founder of Skillshot, will become president of Skillshot Media. Andrew Steinberg, managing partner of Phoenix Capital Ventures, is chair of the Resurgens Gaming board.
Uptown will house those companies' offices, which will include about 100 employees, Harris said. The development's 35,000-square-foot atrium will double as a venue for live esports events on the weekends or in the evenings. Resurgens Gaming also has studio space, areas for team scrimmaging and practice and a classroom to teach gaming and esports in partnership with the Georgia Film Academy.
Atlanta is emerging as a hot market in esports, in part because of state support. The same tax incentive structures that caused a meteoric rise in the local film industry benefit esports production companies. The Georgia High School Association recognizes esports as an official sport. Georgia State University and Georgia Southern University have esports teams.
Atlanta media company Cox Enterprises invested in Atlanta Esports Ventures, which owns the Atlanta Reign — one of the 20 teams in the Overwatch League, the first major city-based esports league. The Atlanta Hawks launched the Hawks Talon Gaming Club in 2018.
Atlanta ranks as the No. 1 city for its gaming environment and No. 5 for jobs in augmented reality and virtual reality gaming, according to a 2020 esports industry report from the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute.
The same city infrastructure that supports Atlanta’s sports teams benefits this industry as well, Harris said. The international airport and hospitality industry are robust enough to support live events. Atlanta competes with Dallas, Las Vegas and Los Angeles for the title as top esports city, Harris said.
Harris is at the helm of the local esports market. He founded Skillshot Media in 2018 after spending almost 15 years as the chief operating officer of Hi-Rez Studios, an Alpharetta-based video game studio. Harris and other Atlanta investors bought Ghost Gaming in 2020, relocating the company from Irvine, Calif., to Alpharetta. He is chair of the board of the Atlanta Esports Alliance and an adjunct professor in esports.
Harris hopes to start live esports events at Uptown Atlanta in the spring. Most employees are still virtual and located across the country, which will start to change this year.
