Video Game Bar

[mblessing1989]

Can you please post this on the general business forums

Title: Video Game Bar

Hi All,

I have an idea to open a bar, with a main focus on video games as an aspect to socialise.

I'm not talking a bunch of people herding around arcade machines, but rather groups around one large TV enjoying social games such as FIFA.

The fundamentals of it would run much like a bowling alley, where a "booth" would be assigned to a group, drinks and snacks can be brought over and after their allotted time is over, another group would come in (being at least a dozen booths going at one time). I use the term booth loosely, it would be more an allocated area.

This could be expanded to holding events, one-off nights for new releases etc.

I was wondering would this appeal to some people on here? I would be interested to hear feedback.

Many Thanks.

 

[Scalloway]

How are you planning to fund it?

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Hi,

Welcome to the forums.

Not sure about the booth idea, or FIFA to be honest. That might work, or people might just prefer to do that at home - e.g. lads, half/non gamers with pizza and drinks gathered around a TV with a console at someone's house or flat.

I'd check out places like Loading Bar - http://loadingonline.co.uk/

Definitely go visit that and other venues if you're serious about starting a venue like this.

Personally I'd think a more open approach might work better.

So a place you can drop in for drinks, with a gaming theme, and a variety of machines to play - with friends, and other people.

Games like Buzz and other party games, retro games, "gamer" games.

More like how a pool table works in any pub, or table tennis works in London bars etc.

The booth idea sounds more expensive, less open and social, and less space efficient.

Instead you could have a variety of sit down and stand up spaces to play a variety of games.

Games could be free and simply a way to make the place unique and provide a reason to go there, drinks being where you make the money.

Obviously events, tournaments and competitions could be run there.

Best of luck,

Dan

 

[obscure]

I was wondering would this appeal to some people on here? I would be interested to hear feedback.

1. I can't see there being any demand for this given that, as a previous poster pointed out, people can do exactly the same thing in the "booth" of their own living room. Drinks, Pizza, Video Games, all available whenever they want.
2. Licensing issues - Just so you know, if you go ahead with this you would need to talk with the software publishers about licensing. You can't just buy games from your local game shop and use them as part of your business because, under UK copyright law, they are licensed for home/personal use only. You would need to negotiate a specific license for that use which would likely cost a lot more.

 

[mrjonathanbrown]

I disagree slightly, I think this is something that could work, there is a trend in people watching other people play games, it's a big market apparently, playstation & Xbox now let you record yourself playing a game and upload/stream for others to watch.

You could possibly stream your venue with all the visitors.. good point for advertising games/brands if the channel is successful and help you negotiate better licensing deals.

 

[windlesham]

Funny this should come up. As someone in their mid 30's I was reminiscing with my school friends house w we enjoyed playing Golden eye on the Nintendo wjhen we were teenagers.

We tend to still meet up as a group twice a year so decided to look for somewhere we could play. Unfortunately' whilst there were a few bars in London that offer computer games none had Goldeneye.

I was hoping we'd be able to hire a booth like you can in kareoke bars so our dirty little secret could be carried out in semi privacy but to no avail

 

[Ashley_Price]

I think this could work, if the bar was the main focus and the "booths" were a sideline to see if they would take off.

As others have pointed out, people can already do all of this in their home (and for cheaper), so what would entice them into a bar?

Mind you, people can drink far more cheaply at home than in pubs and yet, pubs are still going. (Yes, I know there's news stories of pubs shutting down, but you don't hear of the ones that are really successful. In my town almost every pub is busy most nights of the week.)

 

[john1989]

I don’t think the argument of “it can be done from home” makes the business idea redundant at all.


People can watch films from home, but still go to the cinema.
People can eat at home, but still visit restaurants.
People can drink at home, but still go to the pub.
People can play football in a park, but still book 5-a-side courts.



The main market for this is going to be 18-30 year olds. Many at the younger end of the market will still probably live at home, and their parents won’t want 10 people playing Fifa and getting rat ar5ed in their living room on a Thursday night.


Personally, I think this would go down really well in a town centre such as Leeds. But the costs of fitting out a town centre location will need a lot of funding.

 

[Ace Light]

Hello Mblessing.

There was a place like this in Manchester, off Oxford road, behind a Firkin pub, slap bang in the middle of the university campuses, alas can't give a link, search for Kyoto Lounge, sadly closed down now. Am surprised to read it shut down, was very busy, very popular. On Gamerpulp you will find an interview by the owner who said he closed it down due to health reasons, and it taking up too much of his time.

This place was rammed a few years ago, when I used to live in the UK. I would recommend any place you open be in a similar type of place, cater to students during the weekdays Weekend it is close enough as a gateway into the city centre for when the same group want to use it as a stepping stone, and the gamers want to do their thing on the weekends, and not have to go too out of their way. You'll get a few punters although well into their gaming a few years ago, would still come in for a few, before they move on during the weekend as well.

You don't want the typical weekend yobs to find it as a convenient place for them on the weekends, nor have it end up as so many karaoke bars turn into on the weekends. Focus on the social gaming side, competitions, tech and retro.

Cheers, Ace.

 

[Mark T Jones]

Without any knowledge of gaming, I can see how there could be a demand for this if set up and marketed professionally

One challenge you will face is 'bums on seats' - IE lots of bums on seats, busy gaming & not spending - prime space is expensive, so your customers need to be spending money.

Also, for clear focus, you need to establish whether you are a bar with games, or a games room with a bar.

 

[J Arnold]

There is a place in Portsmouth doing exactly this. Its a café / games bar. You have to book ahead though I believe which, if I want a coffee I'm not going to plan it two weeks in advance.

 

[Carl Mintern]

There is a place in Portsmouth doing exactly this. Its a café / games bar. You have to book ahead though I believe which, if I want a coffee I'm not going to plan it two weeks in advance.

You HAVE to book ahead? If so it means they must be very, very busy. I can't see them turning people away if they haven't booked if they are empty.

Unless they open to order?

 

[J Arnold]

It's £5 per two hour session and they sell snacks. It's called Game Over (I'm not allowed to post links yet) in Portsmouth if you want to check their website.

 

[J Arnold]

You HAVE to book ahead? If so it means they must be very, very busy. I can't see them turning people away if they haven't booked if they are empty.

Unless they open to order?

They have a lot of slots free. I can't see it being very busy at all during the week as its target market are at work, college and school. Old dears are not likely to pop in on a weekday.

 

[Carl Mintern]

You said you wouldn't use them because you wouldn't book in advance for a coffee. What makes you think you need to?

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

This sounds like one of them ideas that on the surface is fantastic but as soon as you look into it you can see some major flaws.

Gaming has been with us for years. Cafes have been have been around for years. There must be a reason why these two things don't go together and there's not one on every high street.

Yes the gaming aspect is fun and will get customers through the door, but whilst people are busy gaming, they're not eating and drinking which is where you should be making your money. You could end up with people hogging a booth or table for two hours for the price of a sandwich or two and a few cokes whilst the cafe down the road has turned around loads more customers per table each having a full meal.

Nice idea but I think the closer you look into it the more it's unrealistic unless you can think of a completely new angle on it.

 

[mblessing1989]

Many thanks for all your feedback.

I must admit, some of the hurdles you've all mentioned, I have envisaged myself.

The complication of "bums on seats" I think could be resolved with an allocated time slot assigned to them, much like you do in a bowling alley.

Want another hour? Go to the bar to purchase more time. Whilst they're up there, it would be a gentle hint to buy a drink or two.

Funding would be my first brick wall and I'm very grateful to obscure for...

2. Licensing issues - Just so you know, if you go ahead with this you would need to talk with the software publishers about licensing. You can't just buy games from your local game shop and use them as part of your business because, under UK copyright law, they are licensed for home/personal use only. You would need to negotiate a specific license for that use which would likely cost a lot more.

^^ This hadn't even crossed my mind and I would definitely need to explore this a lot further.

 

[Psl]

HMV, before they closed, had a similar set up in the basement in Market Street, Manchester and I use to take my two boys there, 12 and 15 at the time, a couple of times a week. They loved it! They made new friends, watched and learned from other players. It used to cost me £40 a go, drinks, snacks time on games etc.

As a business idea, I think it is great.

I am thinking youth club concept at one end and licensed bar at the other end.

There are pubs that have PS4'S - XBox's in them for use by the customers, and the ones I have been in are busy!

I take on board the point about licensing and the games, but if you act as an affiliate sales arm of the said gaming companies, offer free advertising and promotion, you should get a deal. After all drinks manufacturers will pay to put their product in front of a captive audience!!

You might want to think about incorporating a game exchange/resale service into the business?

Good luck.

 

[Shaun_Pearce]

eSports is growing rapidly and you can be sure it's only going to get more popular as time goes by. An idea would be to combine your venue with an online streaming service. Produce weekly videos for your social media including YouTube videos that include interviews with visitors to your venue so it get's shared for even more coverage.

The main problem I see here is the kind of client you're going to attract. I'm one of those prospective clients. Demographically I'd say your ideal target audience are 14 - 21. There is an older generation of gamers out there however, myself included. However you'll find nerds like myself have a lack of mates who share my interest to go and chill in a gaming bar. Fifa would appeal to a wider audience who aren't really a nerd community however.

I just think you need build a lot of hype around the area you're looking to operate from to target a niche demographic clientele.

My advice would be to look in to attracting spectators of larger eSports competitions of different games. Dreamhack, MLG, ESL, GSHL etc. There are plenty of weekly casts happening on Twitch.tv, hitbox.tv that will provide entertainment via a big white screen with a few pints.

Visit the following to streams to major tournaments and get yourself on social media to attract people to your venue to watch the big matches. By getting your venue out there on the major gaming forums/website, you'll have a chance of regular business. Maybe doing some sort of collaboration with MultiPlay (https://multiplay.com/) you'll get more coverage.

www.majorleaguegaming.com/
www.teamliquid.net

I could go on here... I'll wrap it up there.

Good luck

 

[Fitz711]

I've seen them work at pop up events keeping people on there tenterhooks for big expos related to EA Games in Birmingham at visitor destinations and retail units. I'd go for both the booths and an open environment so people can mingle and it creates a spectacle and cereal environment. You can do a bit of experiential marketing to generate a buzz and some PR. Get in touch if you need help on digital screens I supply them based in Birmingham and London, add me on Linked In Josh Fitzsimons, Elonex Experiential