A BOLD, new gaming centre and cyber cafe boasting the latest consoles has opened in Southend to help youngsters “get out of their homes and start socialising”.
Chris Bignell, 38, came up with the idea of the “Reality Bytes” cyber cafe after reminiscing about the time he spent in internet cafes as a youngster.
After starting his project in lockdown, he opened the cafe in Southchurch Road on Saturday, opposite the Old Walnut Tree pub.
After taking over an empty shop on the street, Chris has kitted it out with three Playstation 5 consoles, four X Box Series Xs, and eight gaming PCs.
He has also created a boardgame area for youngsters who want a break from gaming where visitors can bring in play and their own boardgames or select one of the games available on site.
He said: “When I was younger, I used to go to a lot of internet cafes and I made some really good friends there.
“During lockdown, I had the crazy idea of bringing something like that back just so kids in Southend will have somewhere to go and make friends.
“I hope the cafe will help to build bridges between people from different backgrounds in the community. It’s something that is really needed.”
Chris works as an IT technician at Greensward Academy, in Hockley and runs the business part time, but hopes to transition to running it full time soon.
After a successful launch on Saturday, Chris is confident the new business venture will be a huge hit.
“Our opening weekend was quite positive, but we hope that we can make as much noise as possible to get more people coming in,” said Chris, from Southend.
“The cafe is also a way for me to give back to the community.”
The current price for gaming is £7 per person per hour.
Reality Bytes, at 827 Southchurch Road, is open from 5pm to 9pm on weekdays, 12pm to 9pm on Saturday and it runs from 12pm to 6pm on Sundays.
Along with providing a gaming experience, the café also does repairs for PCs, laptops and consoles.
To find out more details, visit: thisrealitybytes.co.uk.
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