UK Royal Navy builds 'esports suite' loaded with gaming PCs onboard its newest warship — eight high-powered PC battle stations added to war room

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British military perks now include LAN parties on the high seas.

Esports suite onboard UK Royal Navy warship
(Image credit: British Esports Federation)

The UK Royal Navy, as part of a partnership with the British Esports Federation, has constructed a first-of-its-kind "esports suite" onboard an active Navy warship. The HMS Prince of Wales' esports office contains eight Alienware PCs loaded to the teeth with RTX 4080s, a console gaming station, and enough LEDs to make a college dorm room blush.

The UK's Royal Navy has recognized esports as a "military sport" since March 2024, encouraging involvement in it for both seamen and civilians. While many other active warships have included room for console gaming on Xboxes, Playstations, and Nintendo Switches, the Prince of Wales is the first UK warship to include PC gaming setups onboard at this scale.

Chief Petty Officer Martin Miller, the vice-chairman of the Royal Navy's esports committee, oversees the suite and participates in solo gaming sessions on Sid Meier's Civilization VI. The Royal Navy officially sponsors the suite, supplying it with 12 total Alienware Aurora towers, peripherals, and all other parts of the assembly. Miller says future expansion plans include making space for the current surplus of Alienware towers onboard, as well as an "impossible" goal of making space for a simulation racing rig.

The suite's red versus blue color scheme and layout facilitate team-based gaming sessions on local games, including Halo, Team Fortress 2, and Counter-Strike. Online multiplayer is not an option when the ship is at sea, meaning LAN parties on the high seas are common. Leaders onboard reserve the suite for official use for their teams around three times a week, according to Miller.

"We’re thrilled to partner with the Royal Navy and the Ministry of Defence for this," said Chester King, President of British Esports. "Gaming is becoming increasingly important to the military, as it offers many benefits such as fostering communication, leadership and strategic skills, and allows personnel to strengthen bonds, unwind and maintain positive mental health."

The HMS Prince of Wales also includes other perks for its crewmen, like inflatable swimming pools, a golf simulator, and karaoke. The Royal Navy has been actively recruiting young people through video games for years, specifically seeking out talented FPS players for enlistment. This and other perks are significant components of the military's recruitment drive as global tensions escalate and major Western militaries seek recruits.

In a modern day where gamers are met with disappointments like the massive flop of the new MindsEye game and major anti-consumer moves from Nintendo, it sometimes makes one wish for a return to the days of LAN parties on Halo and TF2. And for the low price of enlistment in the UK Navy, now those days can come back.

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Sunny Grimm
Sunny Grimm
Contributing Writer

Sunny Grimm is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has been building and breaking computers since 2017, serving as the resident youngster at Tom's. From APUs to RGB, Sunny has a handle on all the latest tech news.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Johnpombrio
    We need a rousing, good game of using First Person Drone strikes on ships and during land warfare. That is where the future lies in today's battle sites. With the vast acceleration of technological changes that occur in actual combat, it will continue to evolve rapidly.
    Reply
  • jg.millirem
    Enforcing real military colonialism and genocide isn’t enough for those boys, apparently.
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    I kind of resent the idea of my taxes being used to pay for Alienware PCs...
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    Neilbob said:
    I kind of resent the idea of my taxes being used to pay for Alienware PCs...
    How about a TV and DVD player?
    Or a swimming pool?
    Or just simple bandwidth to send an email home?


    These sort of things generally come out of Morale funds.
    Reply
  • punkncat
    One of the most challenging aspects of military service is maintaining morale and good spirit. Alongside the comment made in post 2 above, I don't see this as a bad thing.
    Reply
  • abufrejoval
    Born and raised in western Berlin in the middle of the Cold War, I was banned from the military, even if I had wanted to join (I didn't, I liked girls more).

    It became a remote possibility only once the US Navy offered me to join their nuclear submarine division, after I had playfully done an ASVAB test, while being an exchange student in the US. I read The Hunt for Red October years later and thought that perhaps I had missed out on something.

    Now one of my sons is an officer in German navy infantry, basically a Marine, I guess. And he just loves to play Ready or Not, even off duty, plenty of other shooters as well. I find that hard to wrap my head around.

    I've done 45 years of IT troubleshooting and architecture and I can tell you that for every extra bit of problem solving, I expect to get paid, handsomly. When I shoot, it's personal or to let off frustration: my computer games couldn't be simple enough!

    No thinking, that's what I do for a living, not after hours.
    Reply
  • Neilbob
    I was snarkily referring to Alienware specifically. Another example of my cynicism/sarcasm not translating too well in text form.

    But not to worry. Generally speaking, I couldn't care less about them setting up something like this on a warship. The cost of doing so is a relative drop in the ocean. Pun intended.

    Edit: Quoting @USAFRet there cos I forgot to do it. It's way too late for me to still be up.
    Reply
  • USAFRet
    Neilbob said:
    I was snarkily referring to Alienware specifically. Another example of my cynicism/sarcasm not translating too well in text form.

    But not to worry. Generally speaking, I couldn't care less about them setting up something like this on a warship. The cost of doing so is a relative drop in the ocean. Pun intended.

    Edit: Quoting @USAFRet there cos I forgot to do it. It's way too late for me to still be up.
    The Alienware systems probably fall within the same Warranty thing with the other Dell systems on the ship.
    Reply
  • TheOtherOne
    jg.millirem said:
    Enforcing real military colonialism and genocide isn’t enough for those boys, apparently.
    Of course not. They also get to have fun parties and enjoy at the expense of taxpayers' money! 🥳🕺
    Reply
  • orchard800
    I was more surprised to see wheeled office chairs on a ship. Adds an extra challenge I guess.
    Reply