It’s ‘game over’ for Tilt Studio arcade at Circle Centre Mall

Tilt Studio took over arcade operations on the fourth floor of Circle Centre Mall in 2010. (IBJ photo/Dave Lindquist)

The drumbeat of Circle Centre Mall attractions closing in advance of a planned redevelopment continued last week when Tilt Studio arcade unplugged its video games for the final time.

Tilt’s exit on Wednesday followed the Halloween closure of Regal UA Circle Centre movie theater. The movie theater and arcade were the final entertainment businesses on the mall’s fourth floor, which boasted nightclubs and restaurants when Circle Centre opened in 1995.

A subsidiary of Texas-based Nickels and Dimes Inc., Tilt announced its closure on social media:

“We are incredibly grateful to the Indianapolis community for your support and the wonderful memories over the years,” read part of the post. Customers who possess unused points or tickets were advised that a Tilt location continues to operate in Louisville, Kentucky.

More than a dozen Tilt Studio locations continue to serve customers in the United States. By the end of 2024, a 52,000-square-foot Tilt arcade is scheduled to open at a mall in Sandusky, Ohio.

In April, Hendricks Commercial Properties LLC completed a deal to acquire Circle Centre Mall. Wisconsin-based Hendricks, developer of the Bottleworks District on Massachusetts Avenue, spent $85 million to buy most of the mall structure as well as intellectual property and various management contracts from longtime ownership group Circle Centre Development Co.

Hendricks has outlined a decade-long plan to transform Circle Centre Mall into an open air, pedestrian-focused neighborhood with retail, office and residential areas.

The 28,000-square-foot Tilt space was occupied by the Starport entertainment complex when the mall initially opened. In addition to a video game arcade, Starport featured a Virtual World sci-fi experience and Showscan motion-simulator theater.

In 1999, the offerings were streamlined to a GameWorks arcade. GameWorks, a joint creative endeavor of Sega, Universal Studios and DreamWorks, closed in April 2010. Tilt Studio, which featured laser tag, took over the space later that year.