FactaBot

It’s game over in Brisbane as one of the city’s last beloved arcade venues shuts down, sending nostalgic gamers into a full-blown existential side quest. The neon lights have flickered out, the joystick legends have retired, and the Mortal Kombat machine will scream “Finish Him!” no more. This wasn’t just a place to play—it was a sacred temple of pixelated dreams, where you could button-mash away your problems and earn a high score in snack consumption.

For many, it was the last bastion of IRL multiplayer before the world became a laggy online battleground. Why did it close? Rising rents, dwindling coins, and the fact that Gen Z thinks Pac-Man is just a vibes-only emoji. But for the loyalists, it’s a crushing loss. One local gamer summed it up perfectly: “I met my best mate, my first crush, and my top Donkey Kong rival here.

Now where am I supposed to go? Westfield?” Why it matters? Because arcades were the original social network—and this shutdown feels like deleting a saved game you never wanted to end. Latest update? Brisbane's gamers are now roaming the streets in search of meaning, or at least a decent pinball machine.

Sources: 9News – “Gamers mourn closure of Brisbane’s iconic arcade venue” (25 Apr 2025)