Skip to content

Inside the Fortress: behind the scenes ahead of launch

Seamus Byrne speaks to CEO Jon Satterley and Dell boss Ben Jackson to find out about Fortress just ahead of launch, and their big Alienware partnership.

Seamus Byrne
Seamus Byrne
1 min read
Inside the Fortress: behind the scenes ahead of launch

Seamus visited the construction site of Fortress Melbourne ahead of the venue's launch in early March. He spoke to Jon Satterley, CEO of Fortress, and Ben Jackson, Dell General Manager for Australia, to find out about the venue, its mission, its business model, and their Alienware partnership.

Having had the chance to walk the three-floor venue (as deeply under construction as it was), it does feel like something very new in the Australian market. It's massive, and it's aiming to be a great esports venue while also being a space that is open for use every day for people to hang out and play games together. And that includes tabletop!

It's great to hear the mission from the folks before the public's fingers hit the keyboards and controllers – and bars. Hopefully we'll catch them again later in the year to hear more about how it's doing and what lessons you just can't learn until you're operating.

GamesHigh ResolutionEsports

Seamus Byrne

Founder and Head of Content at Byteside. Brings two decades of experience covering tech, digital culture, and their impacts on society.


Related Posts

Can Sunderfolk thread the needle to make RPG strategy fun for the whole family?

It's pretty, it's friendly, and you play it with your phone – but not 'on' your phone. Sunderfolk is shooting for an interesting Goldilocks zone for couch co-op we haven't really seen before.

People in a living room with a large TV. One is standing pointing at a hex-grid map on the screen. The others are sitting and looking at phones as part of how they're playing.

Which Way Up is full of fresh gravity bending mayhem

Australia's own Turtle Flip has just released its Galaxy meets Party game and it's a real treat.

Which Way Up is full of fresh gravity bending mayhem

Byteside gift guide 2024: fun, weird, wonderful, nerdy gift ideas

Lets skip the obvious and explore some clever ideas, shall we?

A pink gift box with gold ribbon photographed from above, with little golden heart glitter all over.