Namco Funscape London closes down after 25 years
- ️Wesley Yin-Poole
- ️Fri Aug 13 2021
Namco Funscape in London has closed down after 25 years.
The arcade centre inside London's County Hall off Westminster Bridge shut its doors at 6.30pm last night, 12th August.
"We're heartbroken to have closed our landmark site that has been entertaining families, friends, and corporate groups from all over the world for 25 years," reads a post on the venue's Facebook page.
"We look forward to seeing you at another Namco venue soon and thank you for amazing memories!"
Namco Funscape had a bowling alley, bars, bumper cars and over 100 arcade cabinets. It recently added a VR zone running Mario Kart VR.
According to ArcadeHeroes.com, Funscape London was forced to vacate the site due to the redevelopment of part of County Hall, as opposed to issued associated with the pandemic.
Some people have taken to social media to recount their memories of Namco Funscape. Here's a snippet:
— Namer Merli (@AmetDj) August 12, 2021NAMCO Funscape London arcade has permanently closed today, 25 years after its initial opening.
It recent years it became a shadow of its former self and a crass tourist trap, but still sad to see it closing its doors. I made many good memories there 😢 pic.twitter.com/YKsPSNiefV
— PixelSquid (@PixelSquid_) August 13, 2021Unfortunately I was too busy to not have enough time to visit Namco Funscape before it closed down.
It is a real shame this arcade is now closed forever. I have made many memories from this place.
Plus for it being London it was an easy arcade I could go to which was neat. pic.twitter.com/prbVeLnfv4
RIP namco funscape country hall today, one of the last of the big central london arcades and operational for 25 years - they sure as hell aren't announcing it officially still, so have a thread of old + new pics in the meantime pic.twitter.com/ogkuXaamKf
— ted (@ted90909) August 12, 2021
I was a regular visitor to Namco Funscape as a teenager (that was a long time ago!), and remember learning to play Tekken on the cabinets there. I was always partial to a game of Time Crisis, too.
The dwindling video game arcade scene is a global trend, of course, but there are a handful of arcades left in London, including Las Vegas Arcade in Soho, and The Heart of Gaming in Croydon.