Press release: 1996-12-04: FIRST GameWorks PLAYS IN DOWNTOWN SEATTLE, MARCH 1997

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: GameWorks (archived)

"GameWorks in Progress" at 7th & Pike

SEATTLE, WA, December 4, 1996 -- GameWorks(TM), a new entertainment venture inspired by DreamWorks SKG, Sega and Universal Studios, Inc., will open its premier location in Seattle, WA in March 1997. "GameWorks in Progress", in downtown Seattle's Meridian Square at 7th and Pike, is being previewed at the construction site for the local press today.

Under the visionary guidance of Steven Spielberg, the GameWorks design team is combining the entertainment industry's best technology and theme park scale to create a high energy world for young adults.

"GameWorks represents a revolutionary approach to entertainment that we believe will actually change the way people play and interact with each other," said Michael Montgomery, president and COO of Sega GameWorks. "We have chosen Seattle as the first location because it is the city that has, over the last few years, set the most innovative trends for entertainment. Because it is so forward-thinking, Seattle is the perfect city in which to debut GameWorks."

GameWorks Seattle, which will occupy 30,000 square feet, is the first of more than 100 GameWorks planned to open around the world over the next five years. 

The opening of the Seattle GameWorks in March 1997 will be followed by the opening of a 50,000 square foot GameWorks in Las Vegas in May 1997 and another 30,000 square foot location in Ontario, CA in the summer of 1997.

GameWorks is the main business of Sega GameWorks L.L.C. Other Sega GameWorks activities include Games Operations, which owns and operates numerous arcade and SegaCity(TM) locations, and Game Sales, the exclusive distributor of Sega arcade games for North and South America. The managing members of Sega GameWorks are wholly-owned subsidiaries of each of Sega Enterprises, DreamWorks SKG and Universal Studios, Inc. Universal Studios, Inc. is a unit of The Seagram Company Ltd., a global beverage and entertainment company.