GameWorks foiled in Europe foray

STEVEN Spielberg might be a big draw at the box office but the Oscar-winning film director has not pulled in the crowds or investors at multimedia game arcades in Europe.

Now GameWorks, the company he helped create, has folded its Austrian operations - its first foray into Europe - after just six months. The venture had been backed by multi-millionaire Egon Putzi, who has confirmed it is now insolvent and owes several million pounds.

Worldwide, GameWorks boasts 15 outlets - 13 in America, one in Brazil and one on the Pacific island of Guam after the demise of the Vienna and Klagenfurt outlets. The Vienna centre, on Mariahilferstrasse, was on the same site as the ill-fated Marks & Spencer flagship store that folded last year, and also offered a restaurant, two bars and a café.

Putzi had intended to expand the Klagenfurt location into a vast entertainment complex, including a stadium, cinema and shopping centre, but the project was stopped due to the large debts that investors refused to honour.

He said most debts had been run up by the rebuilding and furnishing of the hi-tech GameWorks site in the capital and that he had no choice but to register his company as insolvent. 'It means all investments in Carinthian Arena GameWorks and GameWorks Vienna have to be regarded as losses,' he said.

The failure shocked some of its Austrian management, who had predicted expansion. Harald Rohrer, Putzi's partner in the venture, said: 'The creation of an outlet in Villach had been fixed and plans were being examined for further branches in Linz, Graz and Salzburg as well as a second one in Vienna.'

Gerhard Fandl, GameWorks business director, predicted the Vienna centre would receive a million visitors in its first year when it opened last October. Even a fortnight ago, he denied rumours it was about to shut. 'The Vienna branch is not closing. We've had an excellent response so far,' he said.