Ardent Leisure will close the US-based family entertainment centres that account for 85 per cent of the ASX-listed company's revenue for the rest of the month as the US tries to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the world's largest economy.

The announcement of the immediate closures by Main Event Entertainment of its big-box centres until the end of March came a day after Ardent shares went into a trading halt, with the company citing "governmental responses" to the pandemic.