Twelve Years to Dortmund

What Skagstindgruppen’s expansion into Germany tells us about building social gaming that lasts

Morten Guldvik started in a basement at Grefsen, Oslo, in 2014. Twelve years later, after building more than twenty venues across Norway, his company now has two gaming bars open in Germany, one in Denmark, and more German cities already being mapped.

That gap – between a basement in Oslo and two venues in Hamburg and Dortmund – is the part of the story worth paying attention to. Because it’s not about speed. It’s about what you build in the years before the expansion becomes possible.

The company behind G&A Bars

Skagstindgruppen is one of Norway’s most experienced venue operators. Through their operating company Utelivsfabrikken, they run 23 venues across seven Norwegian cities: bars, restaurants, and entertainment concepts that have shaped the fabric of Oslo nightlife over more than a decade.

Social gaming came into the picture not as a trend to chase, but as a logical extension of what they already knew how to do. Raadhuset Bar, which opened in central Oslo in 2020, was at the time Norway’s largest bar and gaming concept: 1,400 square metres, 65 games, three bars under one roof. It was proof the format worked at scale – and the foundation on which G&A Bars was built.

Raadhuset Bar opened 2020, 1,400 square meters with bars and activities such as shuffleboards, darts, karaoke room, table tennis and billiards.

What G&A Bars is building

G&A Bars (Games & Activities Bars) is the dedicated social gaming vehicle within the Skagstindgruppen group. Six gaming bar locations across Norway, built on a single operating principle: games are not a feature. They are the model.

Chipper Social is the brand name for their German expansion. Hamburg opened on 15 August 2026. Dortmund followed on 3 September, with 1,700 square metres, three bars, 13 FLYBY Darts and 6 SHUFL Tech units, plus mini-golf, karaoke and billiards. Two cities in three weeks and the fourth in Aalborg Denmark has already launched.

 “Competitive socialising is moving from niche entertainment into a more established part of the hospitality and leisure mix across mainland Europe. Operators are increasingly looking for concepts that are social, bookable, repeatable and capable of attracting both consumer and corporate audiences.”

Jørn Akerhaugen, Country Manager, G&A Bars Germany & Denmark

The TSGG partnership: six years in the making

The relationship between Skagstindgruppen and TSGG started with Telegrafen Oslo in 2021. What began as a single venue installation has since expanded across multiple Norwegian G&A Bars locations, and now into Germany.

FLYBY Darts and SHUFL Tech are in Chipper Social Dortmund because they work. Not because they’re new – because they’ve been tested across years of live operations in Norway, and the data on what drives group bookings and repeat visits travelled with them into the German market.

“The future is likely to be shaped by venues that combine strong hospitality with high-quality games and technology. The most successful concepts will be those where the games are not an add-on, but a core part of the customer experience and commercial model.”

Jørn Akerhaugen

80% of Germany’s Gen Z say social gaming at a leisure venue outperformed visiting a bar or nightclub.

Mintel, Germany Leisure Review 2024

What this expansion tells the rest of the market

The social gaming operators making moves into new markets right now are not operating on instinct. They’re operating on years of accumulated knowledge about what makes a venue worth returning to.

G&A Bars didn’t decide to go to Germany because Hamburg looked like a good market. They decided to go because they had spent twelve years building the operational capability, the product knowledge, and the partner relationships that make expansion viable. That’s the model worth paying attention to. Not the opening. The twelve years before it.

“Launching Chipper Social in Dortmund and Hamburg marks the start of a new market expansion for us beyond the Nordics, but we couldn’t have done any of this without The Social Gaming Group. It has proven products, high-quality technical support, and unmatched experience from launching into multiple markets globally.”

Jørn Akerhaugen

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