Las Vegas GameWorks complex at Town Square has closed
Arcade and entertainment complex operator GameWorks has closed its Las Vegas location as well as its other arcades around the country.
In a Friday post on Facebook, operators pointed to the coronavirus pandemic’s economic effects that slowed business.
“The past 20 months and counting we have seen our business turned upside down and the continued slow economic recovery has left us no choice other than to close,” the post read.
The arcade chain had been in business since July 1996, according to the post. Locally, it had a location on the Strip near MGM Grand until 2012. Two years later, it opened its most recent location at the Town Square shopping mall, located at 6605 Las Vegas Blvd. South, according to Review-Journal archives.
The location in Town Square offered 7,000 square feet of arcade games, eight bowling lanes and an eSports Arena. On Monday afternoon, a Review-Journal photographer saw dozens of would-be customers try the arcade’s doors, only to find them locked.
Workers also could be seen inside removing prizes and liquor from the arcade.
Social media users took the closures in different ways. Some mourned a place for childlike fun, while others said they preferred the arcade’s former location on the Strip.
“I still remember when it still was on the Strip,” one Twitter user shared. “Even when it moved to Town Square I had good memories. To experiencing the Outrun 2SP SDX cabinet to starting my Pump It Up journey. This place has impacted my life. Thank you for your business.”
GameWorks also closing its arcades elsewhere, including locations in or near Seattle, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago and Denver.
The arcade was created through a collaboration between movie studios DreamWorks and Universal Studios and Japanese video game company Sega, according to a 2010 news story by Reuters.
DreamWorks left the partnership in 2001 and Sega GameWorks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2004, selling its stores to Sega Entertainment in 2005. Sega Entertainment then shut down and liquidated in 2010.
McKenna Ross is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Contact her at mross@reviewjournal.com. Follow @mckenna_ross_ on Twitter.