CEC File

What are CEC files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a CEC file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your CEC files.

What is a CEC file?

A .CEC file is a Chuck E. Cheese Data file.

Chuck E. Cheese Data files store upgrade data for Studio C Alpha, a show-control system running animatronic characters, lights, audio, and video at Chuck E. Cheese locations. These files are created by Chuck E. Cheese themselves when the show routines or behaviors for the Studio C Alpha animatronic entertainment are updated, and they are used by the internal show controller to tell what animations, lighting cues, audio tracks, and video content to run during a show. These files are part of the system that defines how the animatronic performance operates in sequence with other stage effects.

Creation of these data files happens inside Chuck E. Cheese's entertainment production workflow. Staff assembling a new show package write the upgrade data (movements, timing, effect cues, etc.) into a CEC file. That file is loaded via floppy disk - or later via USB or other media - into the Studio C Alpha hardware in the restaurant, where the control system parses the instructions and executes the show. Some versions are distributed compressed inside self-extracting executables, with the actual show file inside. When a new show is loaded, the control hardware replaces its internal routines with those held in the CEC file, thus altering how the animatronics and lights behave.

The data within a CEC file includes commands to control movement of animatronic figures ("move to position", "random movement" programs), control lighting sequences, synchronize audio and possibly video playback, and coordinate timing cues so that all these elements work together. The file format appears to be plaintext or text-based in parts - some structure is human-readable with lines or commands - and other parts may be binary. The show-controller firmware reads these instructions at runtime.

These files begin with the ASCII byte sequence 30 30 30 2A 4D 31 (which shows up as "000*M1") at offset 0 of the file.

How to open CEC files

Important: Different programs may use files with the CEC file extension for different purposes, so unless you are sure which format your CEC file is, you may need to try a few different programs.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Last updated: August 31, 2026

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