Boca Raton, Florida-based firm The Boyd Company, Inc. has named Richardson as one of the top North American cities for the esports software development industry, according to a study conducted by the organization. Richardson was also named the top city in the Central U.S.
The 2022 North American site selection study ranked Richardson 14th out of 25 U.S. and Canadian cities based on the total cost to operate esports software development centers. The total cost for Richardson was $18,961,062.
Cities were ranked based on operating costs for a 50,000-square-foot software development center employing 150 workers. The top city in North America was San Rafael, California, with total annual operating costs of $23,802,146.
Here is the breakdown of what it costs to operate an esports software center in Richardson:
- Labor: $16,481,717
- Electric power: $64,480
- Amortization: $1,452,145
- Property and sales tax: $893,661
- Travel: $69,059
Richardson’s software industry is home to telecom companies AT&T, Verizon, Ericsson, Cisco and Samsung Wireless. The Richardson/Dallas software market employs roughly 35,000 people.
According to the study, esports, competitive video gaming, has been rapidly growing in North America, with revenues expected to reach $350 million in 2022. Global revenue is expected to reach $1.41 billion by the end of 2022, with China counting for nearly a third of it. By 2025, the global revenue is expected to reach $10 billion.
Other top regional cities for esports in the study were:
- Minden, NV, in the West
- Egg Harbor Township, NJ, in the East
- Longueuil, Quebec, in Canada.
