During the pandemic, business was strong enough for arcade owner Esteban Sosa to open a second location in Bay Ridge. After its grand opening, Brooklyn Games & Arcade quickly took off, with gamers flocking to the shop on weeknights and weekends to play retro arcade games and compete in tournaments.
“At the end of the day, it’s more like a community space because people are able to come here and play all day for $16,” Sosa told Brooklyn Paper.
The shop — a second-coming of Brooklyn Video Games in Bensonhurst — opened in 2021, but is facing closure in March due to a decline in patrons and rising rent and electricity costs.
“ A lot of people are hurting these days,” Sosa said, adding that he believes people are going out less frequently than they did a few years ago.
The fate of the small business now hinges on the success of a fundraising campaign launched not by the owner, but by a devoted fan of the shop.
Ariel Mendoza, a lifelong gamer and the arcade’s merchandise designer, said he feared the store’s closure would leave a hole in Brooklyn’s gaming scene.
“I am not going to let yet another shop and small business go down without a fight,” wrote Mendoza on Instagram. “Esteban did not ask for this — I have offered, and we want to help rally the community around such an awesome staple of the retro and gaming scene.”
Mendoza launched a fundraising campaign selling $40 merch tees to help cover the shop’s rent through March 2026. Seventy percent of the proceeds will go directly to the shop, with each purchase matched by a contribution from Mendoza’s own pocket.
The campaign, which kicked off in December, has so far reached 12% of its goal. It’s gained traction far and wide, with orders coming in from across the U.S. and internationally from places like Canada, Mexico, South Korea, and Japan.
“ The retro community itself is not just local,” Mendoza said. “For [Esteban], it’s local but not for everyone that follows online [and] people that have visited the store from other countries. He’s had people as far away as Japan.”
Another supporter of the shop, Ben Fong, a Dyker Heights resident, sees keeping the shop going as a way to keep the in-person arcade scene alive.
“The arcade scene nowadays is kind of dying as we speak,” Fong said. “It’s happening everywhere.”
Fong noted that most people now play games online rather than in-person at places like Brooklyn Games & Arcade. Having helped source many of the shop’s vintage arcade games from Japan, he described the store as a welcoming space for anyone looking to play.
“ It’s a meeting place where people can actually enjoy video games, and it’s pretty much a melting pot over there,” he said. “With that gone, we lose that slice of life where people could actually hang out.”
The fundraiser has until March to complete its goal. To support the campaign, visit the Artistic Pixels site for a Brooklyn BGS vintage tee and sticker set. Brooklyn Games & Arcade is located at 6120 Fourth Ave. in Bay Ridge.
