The Showdown Tournament Featuring Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to be Held at all Seven GameWorks Venues

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GameWorks, Inc., a full entertainment and dining experience for millennials, teens and families, announced today it will host one of the largest national esports tournaments to date for the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game. The GameWorks Showdown tournament will be held across all seven GameWorks venues nationwide. It is expected to attract thousands of players throughout the country between all the locations.

An impressive lineup of tournament sponsors has been secured, including COUGAR, the official Platinum Level Event Sponsor, a manufacturer and provider of gaming gear, which are featured in many GameWorks esports lounges; Gold Level Event Sponsor, Alienware, a leading gaming laptop and desktop manufacturer (wholly owned subsidiary of the world's largest PC maker, Dell); and, Silver Level Event Sponsor Tabasco, makers of the special, original red pepper sauce.

The GameWorks Showdown competition features a large winners pool consisting of both cash and prizes valued at $25,000. This includes Alienware products, such as an Area 51M gaming laptop, culminating in a grand finals cash prize of $10,000.

The process for the tournament begins with GameWorks holding three local qualifier points rounds weekly at each of its locations nationwide, with the first on Sunday, May 12, 2019, followed by those on consecutive Sundays, May 19 and May 26. Each qualifier will begin at approximately 10:00 A.M. local time. On Friday, June 7, 2019, a last chance regional qualifier points round will also be held at each location, with a start time of approximately 6:00 P.M. local time.

Fourteen players from the three local qualifiers and two from the last chance qualifiers at each of the seven GameWorks locations will move on to the regional qualifiers, for a total of 16 from each venue or 112 combined. Winners will be determined by most points scored during play. The regional qualifiers will then be held at all seven GameWorks locations on Sunday, June 9, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. At the conclusion of the regional tournament, one winner from each location, or seven in total, will prevail. They will be eligible to participate in the national competition, with travel expenses paid by GameWorks, to be held at GameWorks Las Vegas – Town Square on Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 11:00 A.M.

In addition to the seven qualified players, there will be a last chance national qualifier the night before the grand finals, held at GameWorks Las Vegas – Town Square on Friday, June 28, 2019 at 6:00 P.M., and the one winner from this competition will join the seven regional champions as they continue to battle it out for the grand final cash prize pool of $10,000.

Admission fees are as follows:

- Local Qualifiers, Weeks 1-3 = $30 entry fee per week

- Last Chance Local Qualifier, Week 4 = $50 entry fee

- Last Chance National Qualifier = $50 entry fee

Registration will open on Monday, April 22, 2019. For more information on GameWorks Showdown and to participate, players can register here. Spectators are welcome to attend without any entry fees.

“GameWorks is leading the esports phenomenon nationally. This multi-location tournament across seven GameWorks venues nationwide is among the country’s largest to date. This is also one of the largest tournaments and highest prize pools for a Smash Bros. Ultimate competition. We are affording dedicated Smash Bros. players and communities within our venues the opportunity to participate nationally and compete with players around the country. We are capturing the interest of this distinct audience by giving them a national platform to compete for high stakes,” said Philip N. Kaplan, chairman and chief executive officer at GameWorks.

“These are exciting times for GameWorks as we pave the way for the future of esports. The enthusiasm we are seeing and the excitement that is building through all our esports lounges is unrivaled. This is the first of many national tournament opportunities GameWorks will be presenting to gamers and spectators as the explosive interest in esports continues. Esports is still in the embryonic stage, with massive market potential. GameWorks is leveraging its position as an original player in the space as we grow our company,” Kaplan added.

The grand finals of GameWorks Showdown will be streamed live on Twitch. To follow and share status updates about GameWorks Showdown, use #GameWorks, #GWesports and #showdown2019.

About GameWorks, Inc.

GameWorks, Inc. offers a full entertainment and dining experience for millennials, teens and families, from seven locations nationwide, including those in Virginia - Chesapeake, Denver - Northfield/Stapleton, Las Vegas - Town Square, Minneapolis - Mall of America, Cincinnati - Newport on the Levee (Ky.), Chicago - Schaumburg and Seattle - Downtown. Each action-packed location ranges, on average, from between 20-30,000 square feet and features approximately 140 of the most popular arcade and video games.

GameWorks is recognized nationally for its esports emphasis. All venues feature modern, high-tech and high-touch esports lounges. GameWorks created an atmosphere designed to meet the comfort and optimum performance of gamers. Each full-service, premium GameWorks esports lounge is equipped with, on average, 20-40 PCs and consoles and an extensive library of approximately 100 of the most popular, up-to-date video games. Venues host hundreds of tournaments and events, attracting tens of thousands of guests annually, who participate, play socially or are spectators. Other interactive activities, ranging from laser tag, billiards and other special attractions, are offered at various locations. Every location features The Works Kitchen at GameWorks, a new, eclectic, chef-driven restaurant concept that takes a Modern American spin on bar classics.

GameWorks also operates TableTop Tap House, a top-rated restaurant, sports bar and social game hall serving modern American tavern-style food and drinks in San Francisco.

For more information, please visit www.gameworks.com, or connect with the Company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.