Chuck E. Cheese wants you to stop by as frequently as you pick up groceries, and it’s selling subscription plans to sweeten the pitch.
The 47-year-old pizzeria and arcade chain has emerged from bankruptcy with renovated locations, a slew of digital upgrades and a membership program that it hopes will prove both affordable and habit-forming. The goal isn’t to be just someplace to take your kids once or twice a year for birthday parties. It’s to turn Chuck E. Cheese into a routine recreational option that can compete with Netflix and the neighborhood playground alike.
“For us to win this game, we need to drive multi-visitation,” David McKillips, the president and CEO of Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company, told NBC News in January.
Chuck E. Cheese recently invested $350 million to remodel its more than 460 U.S. locations.
The chain launched a membership program in August 2024 and said Tuesday that it has sold 200,000 12-month subscriptions since then, with three tiers ranging from $7.99 to $29.99 a month. Annual “Fun Pass” holders get unlimited visits, discounts on food and attractions, and other perks to encourage what McKillips described as “active play” — a post-pandemic priority for customers.
Even at the upper price point, he said, “it is very reasonable for parents and families to come out and have a reasonably priced pizza and gameplay every single day.”
Making memberships work will require Chuck E. Cheese to carve a place in consumers’ wallets alongside their other subscriptions — for everything from streaming services to wholesale clubs — at a time when many are looking to trim their spending.
The upgrades are designed to ensure visitors find something new every time they walk through the doors, McKillips said.
Gone are most of the chain’s iconic animatronics, though the company agreed to hang on to more of them at select locations after a fan outcry. McKillips acknowledged that “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” a 2023 horror flick based on a video game series in which the robomascots of a defunct pizza chain are possessed by the spirits of dead children, “had some impact regarding the brand overall.”
But he added, “People were talking about Chuck E. Cheese, which is good for us.”
Now there are far fewer life-size rodent musicians and more jumbotrons, a digital dance floor and other displays for digital media that can be refreshed continuously.
“We just switched out of our holiday content,” McKillips said at the start of the year. “Then it goes into evergreen, and then we’ve got spring and a summer of fun and Halloween.”
Chuck E. Cheese is also revamping its play spaces to include trampolines and obstacle courses, part of an effort to “create an adventure zone in every single one of our locations,” McKillips said.
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Children jump on a trampoline at Chuck E. Cheese.
The brand recently invested $350 million to remodel its over 460 U.S. locations, launch a new slate of games and tweak its food offerings. The changes are part of a turnaround effort after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, when Covid-19 slammed into brick-and-mortar businesses of all kinds. The company avoided mass store closures, in part by using idled Chuck E. Cheese kitchens to prepare food for delivery under the name Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings. McKillips said that solution kept all the chain’s general managers employed.
The company is also refreshing its food menu with more “grown-up” options, including items that cater to “a little bit spicier palate.” And while Chuck E. Cheese has plenty of options to entertain 4- and 5-year-olds, “the teenagers come in, you know, older siblings — we’ve got games for them as well,” McKillips said.
The effort to appeal to the full range of family tastes is key to getting “parents and kids playing together,” he said. “That is the greatest driver of our guests and how we built the entire new Chuck E. Cheese.”
Chuck E. Cheese said its recent upgrades, including digital dance floors, will ensure visitors find something new with each visit.
At the same time, the brand wants its upgraded experience to remain affordable, and it’s pitching its membership options as a way for families to blow off steam together on a budget.
“There is no doubt that today’s young families are hurting,” McKillips said. “They’re strapped.”
Households have been tightening their belts lately, and major retailers are increasingly sounding alarms about a potentially rough year ahead. Consumers are growing more pessimistic about inflation and the state of the economy as the Trump administration’s expanding trade war rattles businesses and Wall Street alike.
It’s a challenge for any brand to turn occasional customers into regulars, especially in a climate like this, but subscriptions can do the trick if they’re designed well, said Ed Crouch, who analyzes loyalty programs as a managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group.
The simplicity of a recurring charge has a certain appeal. “It’s easy, it feels low-cost,” he said, adding that people tend to sign up for economic reasons as much as emotional ones. “It feels like you know you’re going to get a somewhat more exclusive experience.”
People play games inside a Chuck E. Cheese location.
Successful subscription programs tend to be tiered, simple to understand and provide intangible value, Crouch said. But according to his research, consumers these days are juggling an average of 15 paid and free memberships at once, from streaming services to airline loyalty, delivery and gym memberships. Brands are constantly competing to offer the best benefits and maintain customer loyalty, which also declines with each added subscription, he said.
“It is very saturated today, and we don’t think that’s going to change,” Crouch said.
Sometimes, a subscription program can work with even a fraction of customers enrolled, Crouch said, as long as they visit more often than they otherwise would and the business has other revenue streams. But with less than 10% of customers signed up, Crouch said, the costs of running a membership program often outweigh its benefits.
Chuck E. Cheese is also offering a two-month “Fun Pass” option, paid for upfront, but monthly rates for its full-year membership plans are lower. Those require committing to 12 monthly charges, after which passholders can cancel. McKillips is optimistic yearlong members will stick with it, adding that the chain will continue to update its games and food offerings so the experience evolves.
“Our entertainment is different every time you come in, and that gives you a reason to come back,” he said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
