Was there anyone who set up a LAN center in a small town?
Was there anyone who set up a LAN center in a small town?
I used to enjoy LAN parties with friends, but now most of them are gone. I live in a fairly small town (around 7k residents). I’m curious if anyone here has ever organized a LAN party area. It should be more than just a basement setup—it needs a real hub with PCs running games so people can join easily. I’m wondering if this would work for me or not. I believe even most regular folks would appreciate it, though few actually know what a LAN party is these days.
I might offer a small monthly membership fee and make the first month free to let people try it out.
What do you think? Have anyone tried this before?
I also reside in a modest town of approximately 7,000 people. A new establishment opened—not a traditional LAN hub but a PC-focused VR shop with several machines and various games available. It operated on an hourly basis. At first, it attracted a lot of interest because of its uniqueness, but after about four months it had to shut down. The area wasn’t large enough to support consistent business. I believe a minimum base of 10,000 would be necessary for long-term success.
Yeah, you might be right. I’m not really aiming to make money on this unless I risk losing it.
Setting up should cost only a small amount because I’d use old recycled PCs (like Pentium 4s or Core 2s). Most new games don’t support LAN anyway, so I’d just install older titles that had LAN compatibility. That would make it more like a retro gaming space.
The biggest expense would be the rent for the place. I own the games, but I’d probably just copy them to each PC instead of buying each one. I understand that’s a bit questionable, but I can get Windows licenses very cheaply. Even if I lose a little money, it wouldn’t matter because it wouldn’t be my main source of income.
Sorry to interrupt, but I believe you're greatly underestimating the expenses involved and the potential earnings. You have roughly 7k individuals who might visit your LAN center, but about 70% won't be interested right away—because the games will be outdated on very old machines, and that number drops even more. Ultimately, it’ll be you and a handful of friends, and at that point hosting LAN parties in your basement again would be smarter.