Playdium
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Industry | Family entertainment centre |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1996 |
Number of locations | 4 |
| Parent | Cineplex Entertainment |
| Website | playdium |
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Playdium is a Canadian chain of family entertainment centres owned by Cineplex Entertainment. It currently consists of four locations in Ontario and Nova Scotia.
Playdium first launched on September 7, 1996, opening its first location in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada as Sega City @ Playdium. It was located near the Square One Shopping Centre and served as the chain's flagship location. The 11 acres (480,000 sq ft) centre cost CA$17 million to build and included an arcade, batting cages, go-karts and mini-golf. A partnership with Sega GameWorks, it featured many arcade games from that company such as Daytona USA, and eight-player racing setups for Indy 500 (as Virtua Indy) and Manx TT Super Bike.[1][2] In 1999, the centre was renamed to Playdium.
At its peak, the chain operated four Playdium locations: Mississauga (next to the Square One Shopping Centre), Toronto (next to Scotiabank Theatre Toronto), Edmonton (inside the West Edmonton Mall) and Burnaby (inside Metropolis at Metrotown and host of official Dance Dance Revolution tournaments in 2000 and 2001).[3][4] Though the Playdium brand did exist in smaller arcades that are now known as Cinescape or Xscape. The Rec Room is a spiritual successor to Playdium near the former Toronto location and at the former West Edmonton Mall location. A new Rec Room location took over the former Target at Square One Shopping Centre in 2019. Despite this, future plans regarding the nearby Playdium location have yet to be announced.[5] The company also operates The Playdium Store, which retails arcade games and various other home entertainment solutions.
In October 2017, Cineplex announced the relaunch of the Playdium brand, with plans to open 10 to 15 locations nationwide.[6] The first location under the relaunch opened in Brampton in September 2019, followed by a location in Whitby in November 2019.[7][8] On October 15, 2020, it was announced that Playdium would permanently close its original location in Mississauga on November 1 due to redevelopment of the area however its locations in Brampton and Whitby would remain open.[9] On February 20, 2021, Playdium opened its third location at Dartmouth Crossing in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.[10] In December 2024, Playdium opened its fourth location at Fairview Mall in Toronto.[11]