North of Boston, Malden Center is well on its way to becoming known as the Gaming District, according to Mayor Gary Christenson. Anchoring this position, is the Swedish gaming company, Boda Borg, stationed along Pleasant Street near the Malden Center MBTA Orange Line station. Boda Borg, the Escape-the-Room-esque company, is centered around “questing” where players experience a virtual game first-hand, participating in physical and mental challenges, and is just one of the companies helping to position Malden Center as the first Gaming District in Massachusetts.
Bit Bar is scheduled to arrive in Malden Center after the construction of their space is completed in late 2019 or early 2020. Bit Bar’s original location in Salem boasts vintage arcade games like that of Donkey Kong, Space Invaders and Ninja Turtles. Bit Bar is opening its next location in Malden Center with additional space and games for players, including private space for events, where nostalgic gamers can join for a game, a bite to eat and a drink. Game-themed menu items, like that of “Tetris Tots” and Mac ‘N Cheese “Bytes” will be on the menu.
The most recent addition to Malden Center is Wanyoo, Asia’s largest gaming café chain. Located at 96 Pleasant Street neighboring Boda Borg, Wanyoo aims to be the largest public eSports center in New England. The space will be a multi-purpose gaming facility with professional eSports equipment and PC gaming stations, where gamers can come to play and compete. The space will feature a 39-station PC eSports “battle area,” a public gaming area and a mobile phone gaming space, all available to the general public. In addition, the space will feature three two-player stations, eight private group-gaming rooms with gaming chairs, Xbox and PS4 consoles with 55-inch televisions, as well as virtual reality to enhance the gaming experience. In addition, Wanyoo will allow for popular Eastern and Western board games.
The soft opening of Wanyoo in Malden Center, which is free to the general public to explore the space, is today, October 11th and will run through Friday, October 18th.
Learn more about living, working and playing in Malden through MaldenWorks!.