- Electric Playhouse NV LLC, a tech-driven interactive venue at The Forum Shops, filed Chapter 11 just four months after its June 2024 opening.
- The filing highlights broader Las Vegas pressures—competition, shifting tourism, and bankruptcies among Strip-adjacent businesses—threatening innovative non-gambling attractions.
LAS VEGAS — In a city built on high-stakes gambles and flashy comebacks, even the boldest bets don’t always pay off.
On Monday, October 20, Electric Playhouse NV LLC, the parent company behind a cutting-edge interactive gaming venue at The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada.
The filing, which lists assets and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million, signals an early stumble for one of Las Vegas’s newer entertainment experiments, just months after its grand opening on the iconic Strip.
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Electric Playhouse isn’t your typical casino floor packed with slots and blackjack tables—it’s a 10,000-square-foot tech playground where guests ditch the controllers and dive straight into the action.
Opened on June 22, 2024, the venue uses motion-sensing tech to turn players’ bodies into the game pieces, projecting immersive worlds onto walls, floors, and tables.
Think digital twins of yourself battling it out in group games, no VR goggles required.
It’s got an outdoor patio overlooking the neon chaos of the Strip and a bar-restaurant called Electric Elixirs slinging everything from chicken wings and personal pizzas to specialty salads and even a trendy Dubai chocolate bar.
The concept, dreamed up by Albuquerque-based founders, aims to flip the script on screen-fatigue entertainment.
Statements from the CEO and Details of the Bankruptcy
“In a world where passively sitting in front of screens with video games, smartphones, VR and TV is all too common, Electric Playhouse provides an active, social and energetic entertainment alternative,” said CEO and co-founder Brandon Garrett in a statement at the venue’s launch last year.
He added, “Our goal is to re-energize the way people of all ages interact with technology by inviting them into an experiential world where they can connect, play and create lasting memories together.”
The company hasn’t publicly detailed what led to the filing, but the timing—barely four months after doors opened—raises eyebrows in an industry still shaking off pandemic aftershocks and navigating fierce competition for tourist dollars.
The venue sits in prime real estate at The Forum Shops, a bustling mall anchored by Caesars Palace, but it’s independently owned and doesn’t offer gambling, which might limit its draw in a town where slots are the default dopamine hit.
Still, events like the upcoming “Teatime in Wonderland” immersive dining experience on October 24—featuring a $150-per-person menu curated by celebrity chef Keris Kuwana for groups of 10—show it’s pushing forward with creative flair.
A Growing Trend of Closures and Bankruptcies in Las Vegas
This isn’t the first time a Strip-adjacent business has hit the financial skids.
Bankruptcy filings, while rare for the mega-resorts themselves, pop up more often among the ecosystem of shops, eateries, and attractions that feed off the casino crowds.
Just look at TGI Fridays, the casual-dining staple that abruptly shuttered its outposts in four Las Vegas casinos last week after filing for Chapter 11 in November 2024.
The closures at spots like Planet Hollywood and Harrah’s left regulars scrambling, highlighting how even familiar brands struggle when foot traffic dips or costs climb.
Zoom out, and the gaming world feels the pinch too.
Back in July, Las Vegas-based Maverick Gaming LLC—a privately held operator with roots in the Silver State—sought Chapter 11 protection in Texas federal court, disclosing $100 million to $500 million in both assets and debts.
The company, which snapped up underperforming properties and turned them around, blamed “fierce competition from tribal casinos in Washington, operational misalignments, and industry headwinds.”
Its portfolio included four Northern Nevada casinos in Elko and Wendover, plus cardrooms and resorts in Washington and Colorado—2,500 slots, 320 tables, 1,200 rooms, and 30 eateries in total.
The filing came weeks after S&P Global Ratings yanked its “CCC” credit rating for lack of info, and it forced shutdowns at several Washington hotels like the Palace Casino in Lakewood.
Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Dreitzer said his team was keeping a close eye on Maverick’s Nevada spots, which continue to run normally for now.
Other Casino and Businesses Taken by Bankruptcy in Las Vegas
These aren’t isolated hiccups. The Las Vegas entertainment scene has a long ledger of restructurings.
Rewind to 2016, when the Asian-themed Lucky Dragon Casino—a boutique off-Strip property targeting high-rolling visitors from China—filed for bankruptcy less than two years after opening.
Plagued by construction delays, a tiny 27,000-square-foot casino floor, and bad timing with China’s anti-corruption crackdown curbing whale trips, it shut down in 2018.
Lawyer Samuel Schwartz noted at the time that operations wouldn’t skip a beat during the process, but the end came anyway.
Earlier this year, discount ticket hub Tix4Tonight LLC also entered Chapter 11, a casualty of the digital shift that lets folks snag show deals on their phones without queuing up at kiosks.
The big ones linger in memory too.
Caesars Entertainment’s massive 2015 Chapter 11 filing—shedding $16 billion in debt under private-equity owners Apollo Global Management and TPG Capital—rattled the Strip but ultimately streamlined the operator behind eight resorts today.
Station Casinos, a locals’ favorite founded in 1976, spent nearly two years in bankruptcy starting in 2011 before emerging leaner in 2017, with analyst David Schwartz calling the locals market “very competitive” even then.
And don’t forget the Riviera, the Strip’s first high-rise that headlined legends like Liberace and Dean Martin; it filed in 2010 amid recession woes, with room rates cratering 20% to $55.69 a night.
Even suppliers aren’t immune: Slot maker A’ruze Gaming America, behind hits like Shoot to Win Craps, filed in early 2023 as post-pandemic supply chains and market saturation bit hard.
For Electric Playhouse, the road ahead involves reorganization—likely trimming debts and maybe courting buyers—while keeping the lights on for now.
The first outpost in Albuquerque launched in 2021 without a hitch, so there’s hope this Strip sibling can hack a turnaround.
But in Vegas, where reinvention is the house special, today’s filing is a reminder: Not every innovation cashes out.
As Garrett put it, it’s about creating memories. Whether those include a bankruptcy chapter remains to be seen.
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