Spear Games Paintball

Spear Games Paintball was a commercial recreational paintball operator located in Kalkara, Malta. Operating under the name SP.E.A.R. Games Ltd, it maintained a paintball playing site on St Rocco Street, near the Mediterranean Film Studios.

The operator also used the branding Paintball Malta and maintained the website PaintballMalta.com.[1]

History

Early development

An archived version of PaintballMalta.com dated 11 March 2007 identifies S.P.E.A.R. Games Ltd, establishing an online presence for the operator by that date.[1]

A separate archived location page from July 2009 identifies the company's paintball site on St Rocco Street, Kalkara. The directions describe the entrance in relation to the Mediterranean Film Studios water tanks and main entrance.[2]

The same page distinguishes the playing site from a separate company office at 32 Marina Street, Pietà.

Paintball activity in the wider Kalkara and Rinella area is documented in contemporary reporting. In November 2008, the Times of Malta reported that members of Sirens had participated in an outing at the Rinella Paintball Facility.[3]

In February 2009, the newspaper interviewed the owner of an unnamed company licensed to operate a paintball site in Kalkara regarding the difficulties of paintball equipment licensing.[4]

Although these reports describe activity in the same general area, the available evidence does not conclusively identify the facilities or the unnamed operator with Spear Games.

Recreational operations

Spear Games offered supervised recreational paintball games with rental equipment and group packages.

Tourism directories described the venue as a large outdoor playing area near Kalkara, with sessions lasting approximately two and a half hours. Packages included playing equipment and safety briefings.[5]

A surviving commercial offer valid until September 2014 explicitly identified the merchant as PaintBall Malta at the SP.E.A.R. Games site on St Rocco Street. It advertised sessions with 300 paintballs and supplied equipment, further confirming the connection between the operator, site and commercial branding.[6]

The operator also maintained a Facebook presence under the name Paintball Malta By Spear Games. Surviving posts include a website announcement dated 21 July 2009 and field photographs published in December 2014.[7]

Suspension of bookings

On 28 May 2015, Spear Games Ltd announced through its Facebook page that it was no longer accepting bookings until further notice.[7]

The announcement establishes a suspension of bookings from that date, but does not identify the final game held at the site or establish whether operations subsequently resumed.

Historical significance

Spear Games is an important documented operator from the earlier period of commercial paintball in Malta.

Its archived website provides evidence of business activity by March 2007, while its surviving location records establish the field's relationship to the Kalkara and Mediterranean Film Studios area.

Planning permission for a paintball facility near the Mediterranean Film Studios was reported in May 2003.[8] Whether that earlier proposed site was subsequently operated by Spear Games remains unconfirmed.

Spear Games and its historical PaintballMalta.com branding should not be confused with the later registered sporting organisation Malta Paintball.

References

[1] Archived S.P.E.A.R. Games website, Internet Archive, 11 March 2007.
[2] S.P.E.A.R. Games, Site Location, Internet Archive, 24 July 2009.
[3] Times of Malta, Sirens launch drive to boost junior section, 12 November 2008.
[4] Times of Malta, Getting a shotgun is easier than playing paintball, 8 February 2009.
[5] Maltascout, Spear Games Paintball.
[6] Deal.com.mt, Paintball Session from PaintBall Malta, offer valid until September 2014.
[7] Paintball Malta By Spear Games, Facebook archive.
[8] Times of Malta, Sliema hotel extension given the green light, 6 May 2003.