COVID forces closure of Worcester bar
Photo | Grant Welker
Savepoint Tavern in Worcester
Photo | Grant Welker
Free Play Bar Arcade in Worcester
Photo | Grant Welker
All Systems Go in Worcester
Savepoint Tavern, a video game bar on Worcester's Highland Street, has closed because of what it says is tight business restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We almost made it to 1 year, but with the COVID and the crazy restrictions the hospitality industry has been to face, it was all [too] much to bear for such a new unique concept such as ours," the bar said in a Facebook post. "We started off strong and by all accounts we were on track for success, until COVID."
Savepoint, which took over for the longtime home of Grille 57, closed for good on Oct. 1.
The bar was one of a series of video game-related bars that either opened in Worcester or planned to in a short period of time.
An arcade bar, Pixels & Pints, operates Thursdays through Saturdays at 179 Grafton St. with a menu that includes beer, wine and cocktails. Two others have yet to open, their plans derailed by a pandemic that has made indoor gatherings such as drinking and playing video games all but impossible. Those include Free Play Bar Arcade, which plans to open at 25 Union St. in addition to an existing Providence location, and All Systems Go, an esports bar at 225 Shrewsbury St.
All Systems Go planned to open in the late spring, with 5,200 square feet of space and a 160-person capacity in a building shared with InHouse Coffee, Mexicali Mexican Grill and others. Unlike the others, it would involve esports, games such as Fortnite and League of Legends, which have gained a following with fans watching players battle someone who may be playing right next to them or elsewhere remotely.
The bars have sought to add to an industry in Worcester anchored by two of the most renowned college video game programs in the world: Becker College and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Becker landed second in the world for undergraduate video game design programs in a listing put out in early March by the Princeton Review behind only the University of Southern California. WPI was 12th. Becker has also launched what it says is the country's first esports management degree program.
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