GameWorks Vienna

From Sega Retro

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GameWorks Vienna
Location: 52 Mariahilfer Straße, Vienna, Austria
Opened: 2001-11
Closed: 2002-04-02

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GameWorks Vienna was a GameWorks entertainment center opened by Gameworks Spielevertriebs AG located in Vienna, Austria, in the Mariahilfer Straße 52 building. It was the first and only branch of GameWorks in Europe and closed after only six months following the insolvency of it's European parent company.

The former location of the arcade is now home to several retail units.

History

In January 2001, GameWorks announced they had plans on opening a venue in Vienna, Austria.[1] In August, it was officially announced that GameWorks would take over the space formerly housing the Austrian flagship branch of British department store chain Marks & Spencer, which had pulled out of Austria, and reopen it as an entertainment venue.[2][3] The venture - Gameworks Spielevertriebs AG, was mainly invested by Austrian entrepreneur and millionaire Egon Putzi, who held 45% of the company, while managing director Harald Rohrer held 5%. The opening of the Vienna venue would lead to four more GameWorks venues opening in Austria.

The venue opened in October 2001 to much fanfare.[4] However, on April 2, 2002, it was announced by Egon Putzi that Gameworks Spielevertriebs AG was declared insolvent, and with this led to the immediate closure of GameWorks Vienna after only six months and the failure of the European GameWorks project as a whole as a total loss.[5][6]

Venue

Being at 2,700 square meters, GameWorks Vienna was the largest GameWorks venue of its kind at the time. As with all GameWorks venues, it contains a full-service restaurant, 2 bars and over 120 games and attractions. The arcade area was split into many categories, with the "Power Zone" containing interactive games, the "Racing Zone" containing racing games, and the "Sports Zone" containing sports games. Other games such as air hockey tables and pool tables were also located in the venue.

Games were played using pre-paid "Value Cards" where the guest can pay for additional credits if needed.[4]

Magazine articles

Main article: GameWorks Vienna/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: GameWorks Vienna/Promotional material.

Photographs

Main article: Photos of GameWorks Vienna

References