‘First of its kind’ arcade closes abruptly as company placed in liquidation

Friday, 6 September 2024

Publicity photos from the Oasis arcade at The Palms, which is in liquidation. The company claimed its virtual reality games and simulators were the first of their kind in New Zealand.

Christchurch’s Oasis gaming arcade at The Palms shopping centre has closed after the company went into liquidation - possibly leaving those with gift cards and gaming credit out of pocket.

Oasis was placed in liquidation on September 1 by a “special resolution of shareholders”, according to the first liquidators’ report.

The Oasis director, James Astrop, first met with the liquidator in mid-May to discuss the company’s financial position and the liquidation process, the report said.

Subsequent discussions and paperwork were prepared in late August.

Are you stuck with a gift card or game credit? Email Keiller.Macduff@stuff.co.nz

Publicity photos ahead of the opening of the Oasis arcade at The Palms, which was placed into liquidation in September 2024.

However, the closure seems to have come as a surprise to customers.

Commentators on Facebook and Reddit said they had been left with gift cards and game credit, which one poster claims they were encouraged to load as recently as the weekend.

The company’s social media accounts and websites have been removed, the phone line is disconnected and email address defunct.

The arcade initially ran as a pilot pop-up at the mall in 2021 before opening in 2022.

Screen shot of the floor plan of The Oasis, a 'virtual reality entertainment concept' that opened at The Palms in 2022, and has been put into liquidation.

The complex included a fully licensed bar, 18 hole mini golf, arcade machines, racing simulators and virtual reality (VR) escape rooms, games and a room-scale multiplayer experience – billed as “the first of its kind in the country”.

The virtual reality games cost $15 per person for 30 minutes.

The liquidator’s report noted trade had slowed in recent months, meaning the business was no longer economic, and attempts to sell it were unsuccessful.

The report says the company owes $430,000, including staff holiday pay estimated at $30,000 and about $60,000 to Inland Revenue, both of which are listed as preferential creditors.

The Palms shopping centre where The Oasis first emerged with a pop in 2021, before setting up permanently underneath Reading Cinema. The company was placed into liquidation on September 1, but has been in discussions with the liquidator since May. (file photo)

Three secured creditors are listed - the Bank of New Zealand Limited, Coca-Cola Amatil and Orange Door Music Video Ltd.

Unsecured creditors are owed approximately $100,000. The liquidator notes that subject to further verification, he does not expect funds will be available to unsecured creditors.

Information from the arcade’s now defunct webpage says the Astrops moved from Auckland with the aim of developing the 18-hole mini golf course, but the “project grew and grew,” eventually encompassing virtual reality games, racing simulators and a “massive” arcade.

In publicity from the The Oasis’ opening, James and Laura Astrop were described as expanding their entrepreneurship south after operating an entertainment business in Rotorua.

Father and son James and Alan Astrop created Rotorua’s Lumberjax minigolf course in 2016 using their “graphic design prowess”, according to media coverage marking the opening.