GameWorks, the inspiration behind an arcade featured in The Last of Us Part 2, is shutting down today.
Anyone who has played The Last of Us Part 2 will remember the chapter that features Ellie making her way through a rain-soaked Seattle in a boat. One of the most memorable sections of that chapter has Ellie working her way through an abandoned arcade, before eventually coming face-to-face with a Bloater and getting the hell out of there.
You might not know that the arcade featured in that section is actually based on the real-world Seattle arcade, GameWorks. Taking a look a the arcade in-game and comparing it to images of the real-world location make it clear where Naughty Dog has got its inspiration from, even if it's just called "arcade" in the game.
As reported by GamesRadar+ and intitially pointed out by artist Corey Lewis, it looks like the real world GameWorks is shutting down. Lewis Tweeted, "Gameworks is closing, apparently. This is the day I've dreaded for years. Seattle about to lose significant cool points. Place has been an oasis, a creativity filled area with hidden rooms, catwalks, games, places to draw, gather, drink & be merry. Basically the exact thing we need MORE of in society & I felt blessed we are least had THIS. ... No more".
Although the GameWorks Twitter account hasn't said anything about the impending closure, a supervisor for the Las Vegas outlet told Kotaku that the reports are true and that GameWorks as a whole is closing down. They didn't confirm a date to Kotaku, but several reports have suggested that it closed down on December 24.
Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica's tech culture editor, said "It's true. Gameworks is no more, all over the United States. All shutting down this evening. I stopped by Seattle's downtown location in its final hour of ops to pay respects and ask a few questions. What I learned: all Seattle staff found out 7 days ago, last Thursday, that they'd lose their Gameworks jobs two days before Xmas. Even [management]."