A new Pixel Bar Liverpool venue will be opening in September 2024, bringing the esports and gaming-themed cocktail bar chain to its third city.
The Liverpool venue will join the brand’s other sites, the first which opened in Leeds in 2019, and the second in Manchester in 2021, when we interviewed Pixel Bar co-founder Craig Ryan on running a gaming bar.
The team are taking over the previous Belgica and Monastery site at 94-96 Wood Street, next door to Fact Cinema & Gallery. A full refurbishment is currently underway to convert the venue into a gaming bar, ready for a mid-September launch.
Pixel Bar Liverpool is taking a slight diversion from Leeds and Manchester, in that it’s not opening with a PC gaming offer. We understand this is due to the venue layout and the decision to open was made when LevelTap (which closed earlier this year) and Gravity Max already had an abundance of PC gaming facilities in Liverpool.
According to a news announcement, the Pixel Bar concept ‘combines a fun, relaxed bar with modern gaming to create a social experience where customers can order unique cocktails and compete against friends at games such as Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat and more. The concept has proven popular with everyone looking for a venue to level up their night out, from die-hard gamers to complete novices.’
Craig Ryan, co-founder of Pixel Bar, commented: “We’ve been on the hunt for our third venue for two years now and have viewed a lot of potential venues in a lot of cities during that time. Now that we’ve got an awesome venue in Liverpool, we’re aiming to open in time for the students returning to the city.
“We want to build on the popularity of Leeds and Manchester to expand our social gaming experience across the country, but we’re very strict on making sure the city and site we occupy are suitable for the unique type of night out we offer. Liverpool ticks those boxes and then some!”
Craig Ryan, Pixel Bar
“Liverpool has been high on our shortlist since 2019, and it’s a real win to be making it happen.
“We’ll be bringing across all the fun and mayhem from Leeds and Manchester, including our daily drinks offers.”
Those offers include Happy Hour every day until 9pm, student discounts and an exclusive menu for those working in the hospitality and gaming industries.
Related article: Which gaming and esports bars are there in London?
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
