Chuck E. Cheese

Two children in the Ticket Blaster. This is used whenever a child has a birthday party and the birthday child must collect as many tickets as they can before the time expires.

A girl playing in the now removed SkyTubes play area

Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre was founded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, who was seeking to expand the purview of video game arcades beyond more adult locations like pool halls to a child- and family-friendly venue.[3][16] Bushnell's experience in the amusement park industry, as well as his fondness for the Walt Disney Company, were influential in the conceptualization of the Pizza Time Theatre concept.[17] The first location opened in San Jose, California, in 1977, and was labeled as the first family restaurant to integrate food, cheap animated entertainment, and an indoor arcade.[3][13] In 1978, Bushnell purchased the Pizza Time Theatre concept from Atari's then-corporate parent, Warner Communications.[18] Gene Landrum then resigned from Atari and was made President and Chief Operating Officer of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre.[19][20]

Bushnell has said of his decision to open a pizza restaurant, "It was my pet project ... I chose pizza because of the wait time and the build schedule: very few components and not too many ways to screw it up."[21] After finding out from employees working on the animatronics that the costume he bought was a rodent rather than the coyote he thought he was buying, Bushnell says he suggested changing the name of the establishment from the planned "Coyote Pizza" to "Rick Rat's Pizza". Marketing people disliked that and proposed "Chuck E. Cheese" instead, which is what was used.[22]

To expand beyond California and the west coast, Nolan began to franchise, resulting in a co-development agreement between himself and Robert Brock of Topeka Inn Management in 1979. The agreement handed Brock exclusive franchising rights for opening Pizza Time Theatres in sixteen states across the Southern and Midwestern United States,[18] while also forming a company subdivision, "Pizza Show Biz", to develop the Pizza Time Theatres.[18]

In November 1979, Brock met Aaron Fechter of Creative Engineering, Inc. Concerned that Fechter's animatronics would be too strong a competition for Bushnell's work, Brock requested that Bushnell release him from the co-development agreement, citing misrepresentation.[18] In December 1979, Brock and Fechter formed "Showbiz Pizza Place Inc", severing Brock's business relationship with Bushnell.[18][23] ShowBiz Pizza Place was conceptually identical to Pizza Time Theatre in all aspects except for animation, which would be provided by Creative Engineering.[18] Showbiz Pizza Place opened its first location on March 3, 1980, in Kansas City, Missouri.[13]

Upon the opening of ShowBiz Pizza Place, Bushnell sued Brock and Topeka Inn Management over breach of contract.[18] Brock immediately issued a counter-suit against Bushnell, citing misrepresentation.[18] The court case began in March 1980, eventually settling out of court with Showbiz agreeing to pay Pizza Time Theatre a portion of its profits over the following decade.[18] During this period, Topeka Inn Management also changed its name to Brock Hotel Corporation and moved its headquarters to Irving, Texas.[18] Both restaurants experienced increased success as the video game industry became more robust,[18] and, to maintain competition, both franchises continually modified and diversified their animatronic shows.

An older Chuck E. Cheese location under the now defunct title of Chuck E Cheese's Pizza

In 1981, Pizza Time Theatre went public; however, the evolving video game industry and the video game crash of 1983 resulted in significant losses for Pizza Time Theatre, which lost $15 million in 1983, and by 1984, Bushnell's debts were insurmountable, resulting in the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy for Pizza Time Theatre Inc.[13] Showbiz then bought the foundering company, recreating itself as Showbiz Pizza Time Inc.[13]

After the merger, both restaurant chains continued operating under their respective titles, while major financial restructuring had begun.[13] During this period, Creative Engineering began to sever ties with ShowBiz Pizza Time (officially splitting in September 1990), resulting in the unification of the two brands. By 1992, all restaurants assumed the name of Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza.[14] The name was then shortened to Chuck E. Cheese's by March 1995 after a redesigned concept.[13][24] In 1998, Showbiz Pizza Time renamed itself CEC Entertainment, Inc. to reflect the remaining chain brand.[2][13]

In the early 1980s, the restaurant franchise debuted in Australia under the name Charlie Cheese's Pizza Playhouse. The name change had to do with the common meaning of the word "chuck", which in Australia is a reference to the phrase "to throw up".[25] Consecutively, Pizza Time Theatre, Inc. also opened at least one restaurant in Hong Kong and Singapore, which both closed shortly thereafter as a result of the initial company's 1984 bankruptcy.[25]

Chuck E. Cheese´s Boulevard Marina in Viña del Mar, Chile

Chuck E. Cheese´s Mallplaza in Trujillo, Peru

A franchise store was opened in a suburb of Paris, France at the time Pizza Time Theatre, Inc. filed for bankruptcy. Chuck E. Cheese's was about to open in the United Kingdom, but somehow pulled out.

International markets:[26]

The company was supposed to open a branch in the Philippines at Glorietta but it was scrapped due to the discrepancies in the mall's design which standards of CEC locations must be followed. The location of the first branch is still being proposed.[27]

By 2012, CEC was struggling with decreasing revenue.[28] They ran a rebranding campaign, changing the rat mascot into a rock star guitar-playing mouse.[29] In-store restaurant sales continued to decline through 2013 but merchandising and box office revenue increased.[30]

In February 2014, Apollo Global Management acquired CEC Entertainment, Inc. for $54 per share, or about $950 million.[31][32]

In October 2014, under Apollo Global Management, CEC Entertainment announced that they would purchase their Phoenix-based competitor, Peter Piper Pizza from ACON Investments.[33]

In August 2017, the company began to pilot a new design concept at seven remodeled locations (three in Kansas City, three in San Antonio, one in Selma, Texas), branded as Chuck E. Cheese Pizzeria & Games. These locations feature more upscale decor with a "muted" interior color scheme, an open kitchen, the "Play Pass" card system to replace arcade tokens, and the animatronic stage show replaced by a dance floor area. These changes, along with expansions to food offerings, are intended to help the chain provide an experience that can appeal better to adult visitors, and encourage family dining as opposed to primarily parties.[34][35]

In 2019, the corporation announced it would go public on the New York Stock Exchange through a shell company, Leo Holdings Corporation, in which Apollo will still own 51% of.[36] Bloomberg also reported that after going public, Chuck E. Cheese would no longer have animatronic animals as part of the entertainment.[37] The proposed merger between CEC Entertainment and LEO Holdings Corporation has been terminated as of July 29, 2019.

Two types of costumed shows are used by Chuck E. Cheese: the Live show and the Road show. The Live show is performed at the front of the stage in the showroom, whenever a child is celebrating a birthday. In the live show a customized rendition of "Happy Birthday" is sung to the child that is celebrating the birthday. A costumed Chuck E. Cheese dances with the guests and sings, while being accompanied by the cast members.[55] The Road show is a performance by a costumed Chuck E. Cheese character, and is performed outside the normal showroom. Children are gathered via the public announcement system or by Chuck E. Cheese himself. The children must dance in order to win free tickets. The free tickets are thrown at the end of the performance for all the children that participated. Chuck comes out every hour on the half hour. The songs that he and the children dance to are usually well-known classic songs such as "If You're Happy and You Know It" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".