Gaming
Games
Gaming Cafes to visit in South Africa
A look into ATK Arena, CodeBros Cafe and Nexus Hub
Internationally, gaming cafes and bars are all the rage. But in South Africa they’ve always seemed to come and go rather quickly. A few “esports bars” and “gaming cafes” have popped up over the years but haven’t lasted very long. This all changed in December 2016 when the Nexus Hub opened in Randburg, Johannesburg. The space started as a gaming and geek store which incorporated a cafe serving yummy snacks and delicious gourmet milkshakes. It was the Hub’s offering upstairs that caught the attention of patrons: Various rooms offered different gaming experiences - from SIM racing setups to VR headsets and even top of the range PC setups for those competitive fans. Each room had a unique offering and getting hands on with new games was completely free.
CEO of The Nexus Hub, Tex Hartog says turning a retail specific venue into a social hub did have its initial headaches:
“Being the first of its kind in South Africa, we weren’t without our teething problems. Understanding the business model and the expenses that relate to a venue of this scale was an interesting experience - one which most likely carved the way for other Gaming Cafes - as many of the brands and consumers now knew the value of this kind of engagement. Recently we have expanded our offerings to include events and media, like our YouTube channel, and have reinforced our focus on tabletop gaming - with exciting announcements coming soon.”
Nexus
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The Nexus is now more than 2 years old and thriving. Arguably the success of the venue has encouraged other brave gaming entrepreneurs to enter the space as well. ATK Shack, a small LAN cafe in Cape Town recently expanded its offering to become the ATK Arena. A large space in the heart of Claremont - the arena offers a large number of competitive gaming PCs, SIM Racing set ups, a streaming room and dedicated “lounge area” that sells food from a popular burger joint nearby. The Arena has only been open for a few months but has hosted regular esports events. ATK is a pay to play set up. Customers pay an hourly rate to enjoy the gaming tech on offer. Should they wish to come watch tournaments or live streams they’re charged a door fee on entrance.
Owner of the Arena, Warren Barkhuizen, believed South Africa needed a dedicated esports space to grow competitive gaming and give everyone access to the best equipment, fibre line and frequent tournaments:
“The vision for ATK Arena is to become a home to both professional and casual gamers, and provide a clear path into the international esports scene. South Africa is behind in the esports scene, our gamers are watching and learning from the international pros, they need a space to help them reach the level they are aspiring to. We felt a high quality gaming arena and stable home for esport was what was missing from the South African scene.”
ATK Arena
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While the Nexus Hub sprung from a retail offering and ATK Arena was born with the idea to amplify esports in Africa, another gaming cafe has popped up in recent months that focuses on good coffee and food first - with gaming as an added benefit to the setting.
In early 2019, Jean du Plessis, opened Codebros in the South of Johannesburg. The headquarters for his online content creation space that also caters to gaming and geek fanatics.
“The basic concept was to open up a coffee shop and then call that the physical headquarters of the CodeBros. While on holiday in late December 2018, I sat down in Piccadilly Square watching the artists perform and gave more thought to the concept - which is where it all started gaining that “snowball effect” momentum. I felt that a coffee shop was a great idea, as everyone who knows me, knows I always have a cup of coffee in my hand. But I wanted to go bigger, bolder and stretch the boundaries of convention. That is when I decided that CodeBros would be a full on cafe, serving barista style coffee and tea, tantalizing food and craft beers. A day later I added the lounge section, livestream and shoutcasting studio as well as the esports bootcamp rooms. The concept kept growing in boldness. The purpose behind CodeBro Cafe is to create an all-in-one location for enthusiasts in all sectors of entertainment, pop culture, cosplay, gaming, esport and socialising to connect with one another.”
Code bros
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All three of these venues bring with them their own unique style and take on what South African gaming needs. They also each offer 3 very different financial models which are interesting:
Nexus Hub
The Nexus offers a retail space for geek and gaming products including peripherals, collectables and the like. There is also the cafe. Gaming and geek events take place in the space regularly. Customers can choose to take out an annual membership fee which allows them early access to some of the dedicated events and promotions on offer. However, should you arrive on a typical Saturday you’re able to engage with many of the new games and technologies featured at no cost. Hartog says this was because the Hub is community centric:
“Where possible we try not to charge for engagements that help communities grow. We only charge entrance on tournaments, LAN gaming and dedicated events as those require additional staff and often, specified technical requirements.”
ATK Arena
As mentioned before, ATK Arena is a pay to play modelled space. You can either pay the drop in rate which sits at R80 an hour plus a R20 entrance charge (the more hours you pay for in advance the more competitive the pricing becomes) or alternatively pay for a monthly membership package which ranges from R300 to R1200 per month depending on your gaming requirements. Barkhuizen has always maintained that the space is available for local tournament organisers and others wishing to host events and build local communities. The space is branded with the Arena’s various corporate partners but Barkhuizen says that shouldn’t put events organisers off utilising the space, should they worry that there are conflicting sponsors or partnerships:
“The brands do not own anything, we have a supplier relation with them. They don’t pay for anything. ATK Arena is self funded.”
CodeBros Cafe
CodeBros Cafe charges for the food, coffee and craft beer you consume. However the facilities available including the esports rooms, livestream studio, console room or chill-zone lounge area are not charged for. Du Plessis says this won’t change any time soon:
“We’ll never charge for the use of our facilities. We want to promote the social aspect and encourage our patrons to stay as long as they want without feeling like they need to leave after a meal or some drinks.”
Each of the three spaces featured about offer something unique to the gaming community. But is South Africa ready for an influx of gaming cafes around the country?
ATK Arena and Barkhuizen seem to think so, with Barkhuizen confirming that ATK Arena is planning to expand into Johannesburg, further around Cape Town and even London.
CodeBros founder Du Plessis believes we’re seeing more of these spaces locally because the community is looking for a way to connect:
“Yes, we can game at home by ourselves or invite our friends to come take part in a makeshift Fifa tournament, but that does not get rid of the “cabin fever” epidemic that is stemming from the rise in depression globally. People want to get out more, but do not necessarily want to go to a movie or to a club, they want to relax in a controlled environment. I feel the exact same way and this is the reason CodeBro Cafe exists. I wanted to create that controlled environment that has the perfect balance of gaming and chill, to make everyone feel at home. I believe we have achieved this.”
It is the pragmatic approach to the mushrooming gaming lounge openings from South Africa’s path finder that best answers the question though and possibly summarises the new market trend. Hertzog, from Nexus Hub believes that being a gaming lounge isn’t necessarily enough, you need to offer that unique hook that attracts the consumer:
“With entertainment being trend based, I suspect the biggest obstacle is sustainability of these venues. As the world moves towards digital and ease of access to entertainment, having a unique element as to why consumers choose your business over others is important. This is especially true for gaming cafes. Luckily, we as humans still like to interact with each other and not always through Social Media and Gaming platforms, which allows lifestyle venues like us and gaming cafes time to build, grow and expand upon the experience - so yes, I think people are hungry to engage.”
