GGEZ Bar, Melbourne’s very own esports bar and popular gamer haunt, has announced today that it will close its doors for the final time on Friday, 25th August.
GGEZ Bar took to their official Twitter to announce the news, confirming that post-lockdown costs had contributed to the closure. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to keep up with the rising costs post-COVID, and so GGEZ will be closing its doors this week. Thank you all for an incredible six years of GGEZ,” the tweet reads. The final night will be this Friday for those wanting to head down to send the venue off.
The owner of GGEZ Bar, Lachlan McAllister, shared the post, saying that he had “the time of [his] life these last 6 years and…I would probably do it all again.”
GGEZ Bar opened in 2017 and quickly became a local favourite as the “first esports bar” in Australia, coming at a time when other gaming-themed bars like Beta Bar were still at their peak (which has since also closed down, with Glitch club events filling the void). Since GG EZ Bar opened, other esports and gaming-focused venues like Fortress Melbourne (and Sydney) have cropped up to capitalise on the gaming community within Melbourne.
At the time of its opening, Kotaku Australia spoke to two of the founders behind the bar (including McAllister) about their goals for the venue – one of the standout goals was that GGEZ “[needed] to be, first and foremost, a good bar.”
GGEZ was well known for its eye-catching neon signs (great for gamer-pilled selfies), that iconic massive d.Va mural on entry, and serving a range of food pre-COVID as well as nerdy cocktails.
Regular attendees and sporadic visitors to the venue alike have been sharing well wishes for the team behind GGEZ, as well as fond memories of those neon walls and Slurp Juice drinks.
It’s a sad day for Melbourne-based gamers and esports fans looking for a local spot that catered to exactly their vibe and fostered a close-knit community over Valorant and beers. RIP, GGEZ. GLHF.
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