Crown Resorts is reopening its hotel and food & beverage facilities at Crown Melbourne on June 11 (today), but its casino will remain closed until further notice.

The announcement comes in accordance with temporary restrictions imposed by the Victorian Government, and arrives two weeks after the venue was required to suspend the majority of its activities as Melbourne went into another Covid-19 lockdown.

Victoria entered an initial week-long lockdown on May 27 due to a rise in cases, but this was extended by another week as further cases were confirmed.

“Crown Melbourne will continue to financially support staff who remain stood down, including the majority of gaming operational staff, by paying an additional discretionary payment. This includes eligible casual staff,” a statement from Crown read.

“Crown Melbourne will continue to work closely with the Government and health authorities in Victoria and will respond to measures taken in relation to Covid-19.”

Leading global retro games company Antstream Arcade has today announced its launch into Australia, following significant growth in both the UK and US markets.

Making its library of over 1000 iconic video games available to play for free through its video game streaming platform, players in Australia will be able to play classics titles like Space Invaders, Asteroids and Mortal Kombat over any 3G, 4G, 5G, wired or Wifi connection. They will also be able to swap between any game on almost any device they choose, from TVs, laptops, desktops, tablets and mobile phones, with no need to download games to their device thanks to Antstream Arcade’s streaming infrastructure.

This launch coincides with the Australian launch of the Atari VCS, Atari’s modern video computer system that blends the best of PCs and consoles. Antstream Arcade will come preloaded on the console, providing Australian Atari users with an expansive retro gaming experience. Antstream Arcade will also provide something new for players, with many games on its platform featuring challenge modes, tournaments and international leaderboards, giving retro gamers old and new a modern social aspect to classic games.

Steve Cottam, CEO of Antstream said: “Australia is a country underserved by the emerging cloud gaming market. We aim to change that by giving Australian gamers the chance to enjoy over 1000 iconic games for free thanks to our cloud gaming platform. Antstream is the first truly device agnostic game streaming service in the world, and the first to offer its library of games to players for free via an ad-funded model and premium ad-free subscription service – allowing us to bring our library of classics and forgotten gems to the widest audience possible.”

Antstream Arcade’s library features games from over 55 publishing partners across the games industry, including the likes of Bandai Namco, Taito, Disney/LucasArts, Atari and Warner media to name a few. Combined, this makes Antstream Arcade’s library the world’s largest collection of iconic retro games in the world. With playable titles ranging from definitive classics to obscure curios, Antstream Arcade represents the only way that players are able to officially access the games of the past while supporting the game’s original creators and rights holders.