The Electric Playhouse, a massive virtual arcade and immersive gaming and dining venue located on the Las Vegas Strip within the famed Caesars Palace resort, has officially filed for bankruptcy a shocking turn of events after just one year of operation.

According to federal court filings, the company is facing a pending eviction and millions of dollars in unpaid claims. The bankruptcy petition, submitted on a Monday, included an urgent request to expedite court motions so that current employees could receive their paychecks by the upcoming Friday.

Spanning a sprawling 10,000-square-foot area, the Las Vegas venue was touted as a new era of entertainment. It featured cutting-edge motion sensors that tracked guests’ movements, translating them into digital avatars for interactive gameplay. Visitors used their bodies as controllers in vividly lit, ever-changing rooms where walls and furniture reacted dynamically to their actions offering a glimpse into the future of social gaming and immersive dining experiences.

Financial disclosures list the Electric Playhouse’s assets between $1 million and $10 million, yet court documents indicate the company expects to be unable to pay unsecured creditors after bankruptcy administrative costs. The filings did not detail the exact reasons behind the company’s rapid financial collapse, and the firm’s legal representatives have not provided public comment.

The Las Vegas branch debuted roughly three years after the first Electric Playhouse location in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which opened in 2021. Its demise coincides with a recent decline in Las Vegas tourism resorts and convention centers saw an 11% year-over-year drop in visitors this June, alongside a 15% dip in hotel occupancy, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).

Despite these setbacks, local business analysts describe the downturn as a normalization following the city’s post-pandemic tourism surge. Optimism remains strong among Las Vegas entrepreneurs, but the swift downfall of the Electric Playhouse serves as a cautionary tale, a reminder that even in a city built on spectacle and innovation, high-tech ventures face steep odds on the Strip.