Is your flight delayed when you go to the airport?
Usually I'd say so sorry, but now I'm actually going to say, maybe good for you because this startup is making airport time worth the wait, believe it or not.
Gameway is the world's first premium video game lounge located in airports directly.
It's designed to provide travelers with an upscale gaming experience while they wait for their flights.
The lounge offers state of the art gaming stations with the latest consoles like PlayStation and Xbox.
Sounds so cool.
It also features high performance gaming PCs, retro gaming options, snacks, drinks, fast Wi Fi, comfy seating, you name it.
Gameway probably has it.
Excuse me while I leave the show abruptly and head off to JFK to go try it for myself.
Joining me right now here on set are the co-founders of Gameway.
We've got Emma and Jordan of Walbridge.
Hello, thanks for being here.
It's great to be here.
Great to be here.
OK, Jordan, let me kick things off with you here.
What brings you to town?
Specifically for this week, I know yesterday sounded like it was a really big day for you.
It was.
We opened our 10th location in JFK Terminal 5, the JetBlue terminal.
We had a big grand opening there, so we had to go and open that store up and then come here and meet with you.
That's awesome.
Emma, where are the other locations so far?
Gosh, we gone coast to coast now, so we've got a couple in LAX.
We've got DFW, Houston, Charlotte, New York.
So yeah, there's plenty that you can go visit.
How are you all going?
About the process of choosing where to go.
I got to imagine you got demand for something like that for sure, you know, when we first started, no one in the world had done anything like this before, so it was, it was like, are you sure this is the market really going to want this?
And so we really had to put a lot on the line to make this thing work.
We opened our first two locations in DFW and and then we were trending #1 on Reddit.
It was just a huge opening.
And so during COVID we decided, hey, this is the time for us to push and to expand.
And really when you're opening a brand new concept, it's never been done before in airports, there's a lot of apprehension to do something like this.
And so it was LAX was our first, our next one that we opened, and once we started approving the model and we more than anything, travelers wanted this and so now it's we're able to partner with all these different airports for all the opportunities we have across the country.
Emma, I almost hesitate to ask what the genesis of this was because I can imagine it's like the two of you on this travel.
You had got hit with some brutal delay hours.
Your hours are going by just because I've been there, we've all been there and you're like there was like a PlayStation and a comfy chair nearby.
How did the how did this all idea you think especially from being from England, you're from America, I mean we were on a budget going to see each other originally and we never went to an airport and went, Wow, that was a really good experience.
It just doesn't happen, right?
It's normally horror stories that you hear with the airports, but actually we've seen a quasi-similar concept outside of airports and in gaming cafes.
They're nothing new.
However, it's identifying that.
Their weakness was filling the weekdays when people are at work, kids are at school, and actually bringing that service to a market that is busy all the time, which is airports and the demographics of people who travel, we're also gamers too, right?
Yeah.
What are the do you have data as of yet in terms of the demographic?
I mean, who is being, I can imagine virtually anyone who gets on an airplane would be drawn to walk in.
Oh for sure.
Well, you know, if you look at the people who are gamers, the ones like myself grew up playing Mario Bros.
Saving the Princess, Mario Kart, and now you know the millennials, they've grown up, they travel, they have careers, but now you're seeing them, they play with their children, and those are the ones who travel mostly at airports.
They're the dominant force.
So this thing is no longer people, you know, kids in the basement playing.
It's a, it's a, it's a major part of our market.
And so millennials and Gen Z, this is perfect for them.
So you see a lot, mostly the adult traveler who are in Game way and having a good time.
It's a lot of like the nostalgia.
Factor because I'm also in that millennial age group where I was lucky enough.
Like I loved N64 as a kid.
If I was lucky enough to get a GoldenEye GoldenEye like we all had our favorites, the Wave Runner game this and that, and there's such a nostalgic poll to some of those games and those franchises that were such a part of my childhood that if I'm lucky enough to see one today out in the real world, I think, wow, that's so important to me.
Is that a part of the draw you said?
It's part of the draw.
So actually people we felt felt growing up with it and now the problem is people don't necessarily have the time in order to do the game. as much as they would like, but guess what?
When you're at the airport traveling, you have that free time.
You don't have your partner sort of guilt tripping you to do the dishes or anything.
You're sat there doing nothing.
So let's come and have a game.
I'd much rather play games than do the dishes.
I know, right?
And at that point too.
So we also have the Xbox, PlayStation, all the PCs, all the games are all pre-downloaded.
You can go into your account.
You can use our account to play, but also because I like retro games, you know, we have the Super Nintendo, the Nintendos.
Like that too.
So for those folks who I wouldn't say old, just seasoned, seasoned professional, experienced gamers, right, we have, we have some things for them too.
Talk to me more about what the experience is actually like to walk into a gameway for the first time if I'm totally unfamiliar and it catches my eye at Terminal 5 at JFK.
So I'll speak into that because that really is to do with catching people's eye.
You can't miss a gameway location at the airport and it's mainly around what we've done to the walls.
So we think about gaming, we think about the East.
Sports world and actually I wanted to pull away from that, make it available to everyone, and therefore I went, where would I feel comfortable?
I'd feel comfortable in an Apple store.
So I blend the eSports well with an Apple store and that's where you actually get the design and those tron panels lighting up the location.
I don't mean to interrupt, so we're looking at, I mean this is it.
This looks awesome.
It looks futuristic.
It looks inviting.
It looks very, very cool.
Talk to me about the design considerations to make it that appealing.
I think that you know again this is Emma who created this whole thing from.
If it was me designing it, I think I'd do a really good job designing a DMV or an IRS location.
But you know Emma coined the phrase the moonwalk when people see game win.
I'm not talking about the Michael Jackson moonwalk.
I mean the Neil Armstrong moonwalk, and that's what we'll see oftentimes people grab their phone, they want to take a picture, they want to interact with the space.
And also when you see Gameway for the very first time, it's people are like, it's like an alien ship just landed, and they have to understand what is this place?
How do I have fun in here?
What does it take?
Let's do this.
How do you go about getting the relationships with the airports?
I, I would have no idea where to start, and nor did we to begin with that is that's part of the journey, right?
It is.
So we actually thought we were going to go in our local airport, which at the time was PDX Airport, and we had a rude awakening to what an RFP process is and actually the length of time it takes and the struggles to get into an airport, but I called Jordan my bull because he goes through some serious brick walls and bulls.
Yeah, yeah, that's true, but you actually contacted the CEOs, the top 10 US airports, and we're trying to line up meetings.
So we did a bit of a back way in terms of our approach, and we have learned an awful lot and now know how to do the partnerships.
Yeah, that's awesome.
Talk to me.
I'm fascinated with founders' journeys about learned lessons and I'm sure there's a lot that's sitting here today in August of 2025 you wish you had known even a few years ago.
What are some of those things that maybe you look back and say, Man, if only I had known that 4 or 5 years ago, I think that a couple of things really.
The biggest thing is when we first opened Gameway we had just a bunch of gaming stations everywhere and we had a tiny little snack stand with just some cookies on it and like a fridge would be great for like a dorm room, only to realize that gamers, they want to eat, they want to drink, they want to have a full experience for what they're trying to do.
And so now we have, if you look at a game we, we have a huge snacks and drink section and then also.
You know, when you're talking about millennials, people who are good looking like myself, they have the beers and so we provide beer.
I mean, beer and gaming go together like peanut butter and jelly.
So are there other, if you don't mind me interrupt, are there special regulatory licenses you need to do for the beer license on a Met?
That's easier said than done.
Oh yeah, and every state is different and with the airports you're dealing with multiple states, so.
Yes, we have to learn every state and the regulations.
I mean, it's very common in the airport industry to say, hey, if you've been in one airport, you know one airport, and it's sometimes the case that if you've been in one terminal, you know how to operate in one terminal.
I'm about out of time quickly if you can, any expansion plans.
I'm sure you're cooking on things you can't quite tell us, but what comes next.
Well, we just, we're about to open or we just opened 2 in Detroit.
After that we're going to be in Chicago Midway, and then we have a massive new concept gaming lounge, something very special coming in MSP.
So look out for that coming soon.
Emma and Jordan Walbridge, co-founders of Gameway.
I cannot wait to get back to Terminal 5 at JFK.
Thank you both for being here.
Thanks for having us.
Thank you.
