Family entertainment center takes over GameWorks at Town Square

An arcade and family entertainment center is taking over the former GameWorks space at Town Square, and it’s planning its grand opening Friday.

Velocity Esports will open Friday, and visitors will be greeted with an esports lounge, console games for video game enthusiasts as well as traditional options such as a bowling alley, billiards tables, dartboards and arcade games.

The center will also have three bars and a full-service restaurant serving burgers, homemade kettle chips, salads and some Mexican options, according to general manager Corrine Clayton.

“We want to have a little bit for everybody,” Clayton said. “You can have your teenagers that are going to come in, and they’re going to want to play Minecraft or Fortnite … while their parents may want to go sit at the bar and watch the latest sports game.”

The 36,000-square-foot space includes a 5,000-square-foot esports lounge with 40 gaming computers that can host esports tournaments, Clayton said.

Velocity Esports takes over the former home of GameWorks, which closed in 2021 citing the slow economic recovery as a result of the pandemic.

Clayton said she is one of about 20 former GameWorks employees that now work at Velocity Esports, noting that the location employs about 100 people.

The Town Square location, 6587 Las Vegas Blvd. South, is the company’s second outpost. It opened its first center earlier this year in Newport, Kentucky, also at a former GameWorks space.

Clayton said the company picked Las Vegas because of its reputation as the entertainment capital of the world and being here could help build the company’s reputation and brand.

“Us being in Vegas, we get people from all around the world all around the country that get to come in and see who we are, then they could go back to their own hometowns,” Clayton said. “When we open up more (locations) they’ll get to see firsthand what they have coming to their towns.”

Velocity Esports Inc. launched in November 2021 under the direction of Philip Kaplan, Velocity’s executive chairman and former GameWorks chairman and CEO, as well as Leonard Wanger, who serves as president, and Josh Rosenbaum, Velocity’s chief marketing officer, according to an April news release.

This story has been updated with the correct address.

Contact Sean Hemmersmeier at shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com. Follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter.