Cardiff's The Arcade Vaults to open in November

The Arcade Vaults, a Welsh community interest company (CIC) responsible for a range of events, has announced it will be opening a combined arcade, co-working space, café, and bar in Cardiff next month.

Building on the popular 'barcade' formula, The Arcade Vaults' eponymous permanent home will open next month, its founder has explained. 'After two years of running events,' Chris Munasinha says of his inspiration for finding somewhere for the community interest company to live, 'I've realised there’s a unique opportunity to bring together different aspects of the videogame community under one roof.'

A key draw of the new venue will be a range of modern and classic video games, including 8- and 16-bit machines of eras past, which will be housed in a public pay-to-play area, which can be hired out for private events, alongside a café and a fully-licensed bar. While these will get people in off the street, Munasinha has a bigger vision: turning The Arcade Vaults into somewhere that game developers can use a as a base of operations, with a co-working space available for rent.

'The Arcade Vaults will be a valuable addition to the videogames community in South Wales,' claims Richard Hurford, course leader for the University of South Wales' MA in games enterprise. 'Not only will it provide a focal point for local developers, it will also allow for valuable opportunities to showcase work to the public and raise the awareness of the growing video games industry in South Wales.'

As well as the gaming, working, eating, and drinking sections, The Arcade Vaults will have an exhibition space for artists and game makers, and has plans to run events including developer talks, game jams, seminars, showcases for new and upcoming games, and organised tournaments.

More information on the venue, which is scheduled to open in late November, is available on the official website.