Information on Opening a Gaming Center

SpecTrE3353

SpecTrE3353

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Do any of you guys/girls own or work at a lan/gaming center? I have always wanted to open such a store and have been doing research on it for the last few weeks.

All I was able to find that even remotely related to this when searching CAG was this thread:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-486.html

I have tried researching the prices of consoles/pc hardware, software, licensing with game companies, retail goods (gaming books, dice, magic cards, warhammer stuff, etc) as well as estimating how much money all these goods/services could produce but I find it is EXTREMELY difficult to estimate what some things will cost or make. Does anyone have any experience with the finances involved with owning/operating a gaming center? How difficult is it to make a profit or even break even in this sort of business? Where is the majority of the profit made? Is it worth franchising or should it be independant? Etc... I have a ton more information and questions but I will spare you guys for now to see if anyone even responds seriously to this.

Additionally, if anyone has any good suggestions for what they would want to see in a gaming center, feel free to say something. Seeing as how this is CHEAP ASS gamer I'm sure the #1 response to that will be "make it cheap" :)

Sorry if this isn't the perfect forum section for this post but I didn't really think any other CAG forum fit.

Thanks to anyone who responds.
 
I helped a guy pick out 10 TVs, consoles, software, and PCs at work last year. I think he spent about $25,000 if I remember right and that his start up costs were right at $33,000 after buying all of the furniture, equipment, lease, insurance, and etc. He got all of that in the form of a loan from a bank. He had to show them a business plan and all inorder to get the loan. The guy gave me a free premium membership for helping him out on the prices, but I never went.
 
I would have to assume it would be pretty difficult to turn a profit in this day and age, with everyone playing on the internet through various means.

I've known quite a few stores that have closed up shop that were into table top / lan gaming... it seems extremely hard to turn any sort of profit.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']I would have to assume it would be pretty difficult to turn a profit in this day and age, with everyone playing on the internet through various means.

I've known quite a few stores that have closed up shop that were into table top / lan gaming... it seems extremely hard to turn any sort of profit.[/quote]

I agree. It's hard to get PC gamers out of their homes when they can just hop on the Internet and play against pretty much anyone.
 
There was one here called Netzone that lasted less than two years, and I never saw anyone inside it for the last year it was open.

I really, really doubt these things can turn a profit.

Guess I'm glad I didn't get the job when I applied for it.
 
There is one store here that has been open for about 3 or 4 years.

I've only been to it maybe twice (for an overnight thing) a year or two ago before I got my PC that can play pretty much any game I want to play.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']I agree. It's hard to get PC gamers out of their homes when they can just hop on the Internet and play against pretty much anyone.[/QUOTE]

I also think that now, between Xbox Live and the PSN, it will be even harder. As more and more games go online, it seems a lot easier to organize a group to play from the comfort of your own home then going out to a place and paying money to play on consoles and games you probably already own.
 
[quote name='Yo Mama']Start one that just has Wiis[/quote]
I was planning on having 8 PC's, 4 XBox 360's and 2 Wii's to start (Yes I left out PS3's on purpose. No one is going to go to a store because they just have to play Motorstorm).

I agree about the fact that people aren't going to go and pay money to use something they already have at home. I am planning on trying to create some sort of incentive for people to come out:
(1) Hardware better than what they have (high end pc's, xbox elites).
(2) A large selection of software.
(3) Most Importantly, lots of events such as tournaments or overnight parties involving popular games (Guitar Hero, Madden, Halo, Wii Sports, Starcraft/Warcraft 3).

The first two are fairly minor but the third one is what I want to be the big draw. I know personally I would have no problem spending a few bucks if it meant I got to go out and compete with other people in a game I liked. I would probably do it every week or two if the opportunity existed (but I am a huge nerd so maybe thats just me). This will also take a good amount of advertising to make sure that people who would be interested actually know it exists. Probably the biggest fault with the places around me is that I didn't even know they existed until I started to search for gaming centers to compare with. If I had known they were there already I probably would have visited.

Lastly, I was also planning on having some tables for tabletop games (ie: D&D, MTG, Warhammer). Unfortunately, even these can be played online these days :/
 
Im working with a game center thats getting pretty close to opening its doors. Its in the Sacramento area.
www.nxlevl.com
81 pcs, 8 360s. 22" monitors, and 37" for the consoles. Most game centers are just a boring building with decent pcs and games that you could play at home. They basically expect you to play in a place just like your home only you have to wonder if anyone is watching you scratch your balls. The problem is the game centers never really give you a reason to game there. The ones that do are the ones that stay open. The ones that hold tournaments (with real prizes, not just more hours for their center), game launch events, good lock ins, etc. It can definitely be done. Just requires some creativity. You cant just buy the pcs, open the doors and think people will never catch on and just buy there own machine. Cause they will. You have to give them a reason to come back.

Anyway, hit me up man, Im sure I can answer some questions for you.

EDIT: igames.org and lanatomic.com most likely have alot of answers for you too.
 
[quote name='DeathDealer']EDIT: igames.org and lanatomic.com most likely have alot of answers for you too.[/quote]

I saw igames.org and it looked good but I wasn't sure if I was ready to shell out $125 for a membership just yet :) I will check out lanatomic.com and will probably hit you up via PM's if you don't mind. Thanks a lot.
 
[quote name='SpecTrE3353']I was planning on having 8 PC's, 4 XBox 360's and 2 Wii's to start (Yes I left out PS3's on purpose. No one is going to go to a store because they just have to play Motorstorm).

I agree about the fact that people aren't going to go and pay money to use something they already have at home. I am planning on trying to create some sort of incentive for people to come out:
(1) Hardware better than what they have (high end pc's, xbox elites).
(2) A large selection of software.
(3) Most Importantly, lots of events such as tournaments or overnight parties involving popular games (Guitar Hero, Madden, Halo, Wii Sports, Starcraft/Warcraft 3).

The first two are fairly minor but the third one is what I want to be the big draw. I know personally I would have no problem spending a few bucks if it meant I got to go out and compete with other people in a game I liked. I would probably do it every week or two if the opportunity existed (but I am a huge nerd so maybe thats just me). This will also take a good amount of advertising to make sure that people who would be interested actually know it exists. Probably the biggest fault with the places around me is that I didn't even know they existed until I started to search for gaming centers to compare with. If I had known they were there already I probably would have visited.

Lastly, I was also planning on having some tables for tabletop games (ie: D&D, MTG, Warhammer). Unfortunately, even these can be played online these days :/[/QUOTE]

I think the biggest problem with gaming centers is incentive #2 (higher end hardware) in your list.... As far as consoles go, the gaming experience does not change when you have an elite or a premium xbox 360. As for PCs.... the PCs you buy this year will not be high end in a year and a half (if you're lucky). And working on already slim profit margins it will be hard to work upgrades into those PCs much more than every 3-4 years (I would think).
I think the way to stay open (and hopefully make some money) is definitely incentive #3 (lock-ins, events, tourneys), but that is largely based on knowing that there is an audience in your area for this kind of thing. The one other problem is that many of the same people who would go to these events (i.e. geeks like you and I) also have probably been organizing LAN parties of their own without paying money to do so. That being said, I think in the right area with the right marketing and the right owner, a gaming center could stay open for a long time... it just probably won't make the owner a very rich man.
 
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