Commentary

Mixed-use leisure entertainment gains momentum post lockdown

Deep pocket content creators are are investing in indoor, mixed use leisure entertainment operations.

Image provided by iStock.

December 6, 2021 by Kevin Williams

The growth of the latest phase in innovation in the mixed-use leisure entertainment landscape has been impacted by the global health crisis, but has started to rebound as the global markets re-emerge.

There seems to be a hunger, once again, for what were called location-based entertainment venues. However, in the current phase, the concept has blossomed into mixed use leisure entertainment operations in an indoor configuration. This has seen investment from leading entertainment parties towards developing concepts, with rumors of Sony Pictures, Netflix, Lionsgate and Universal along with others all looking at ideas in this field. Another possible entrant has been from video game publisher Ubisoft, which announced a partnership with Storyland Studios to design concepts that will include themed entertainment environments based on the video game IP.

Hasbro/Kilburn Live partnershp to debut

Just as this report was going to the wire it was announced that Kilburn Live and Hasbro would be partnering to enter the family entertainment sector. Under the name Game Room Powered by Hasbro, the companies will be opening their first joint FEC in American Dream, the retail and entertainment mall complex located close to New York City. The entertainment site is scheduled for a 2022 opening and will comprise entertainment based on Hasbro brands such as Hungry Hungry Hippos, Clue and GI Joe, to name a few, and has been called an immersive concept.

Moving upstairs to the mezzanine the venue also offers a "Spinzone" bumper cars installation next to an interactive five-a-side football pitch, using target goals. Next to this is a Laserquest lasertag arena. All this is supported by food and beverage as well as bespoke party rooms.

The second big opening in this sector is with Gravity Active Entertainment in a Wandsworth location — a retailtainment hub inhabiting a former Debenhams department store. The 100,000-square-foot location has an entrance off the main street as well as an entrance from the adjoining Southside shopping center. This space has been split across multiple levels, offering attractions that have been supported by third party developers.

The centerpiece attraction is the multi-level e-karting installation, a new all-electric go-karting circuit developed by 360 Karting. This ground floor area also accommodates some of the food selections for the venue.

The top floor has a bar and food, along with reception for the 10-hole mini-golf course and a series of Brunswick bowling lanes using the latest projection lane technology.

Continuing the partnership of different attraction providers under one roof, the Gravity Wandsworth site includes three Electric Gamebox pods — the first facility installation for the immersive projection platform. This was supported across the way by several AR darts areas, using the 501 Entertainment platform.

In employing the cashless payment system and new instant prize redemption, along with AR, VR and MR elements, the installation has raised the bar high for the rest of the trade to follow.

Army of the Dead: Viva Las Vengeance

Another venue feeding off the hunger for all things immersive came with the launch of the temporary installation at the Westfield shopping mall of Army of the Dead: Viva Las Vengeance: VR Experience. The VR attraction, acting as a pop-up and developed by Fever and Pure Imagination Studios, is based on the Netflix film release "Army of the Dead." The unique experience has been especially created to encapsulate the thrill of the franchise. Guests, in groups of six, enter their details and nickname and preferred weapon into the game before being ushered into a briefing on the situation they are to face.

The Viva Las Vengeance VR attraction has been scheduled for deployment at several international venues during its promotional tour, already seeing an opening in Los Angeles.

The London location will be running to the end of the year, and the experience will then be opened in Paris. IP owner Netflix is the leading digital streaming service, providing TV shows and original movie releases, and the operation has now started to dabble in immersive interactive gaming as a promotion vehicle for its properties. The experience is seen as a valuable marketing canvas and looks towards the opportunities this brings for a wider presence.

This installation has been developed by Pure Imagination Studios — a name that has been associated with other "temporary" VR attractions over the last few years, most notably with "Alien Decent," a VR attraction opened in Los Angeles back in 2018. It was developed in partnership with FoxNext Destination, the then LBE division of 20th Century Fox.

Immersive play sees wider appeal

More information was revealed about developments in the next generation of free-roaming VR attractions — with new investment in PC backpack-free installations in development. Already, the soon to be opened Hologate World attraction revealed plans with the Hologate-X platform and now developments are revealed from Dreamscape Immersive.

A new version of the attraction, developed by Dreamscape, builds on special 5G VR streaming technology supplied in a partnership with AT&T and supplying the latest 5G VR streaming to standalone headsets — further supported by the established full body tracking and 4D effects within the arena space provided by Technifex.

News from Dreamscape kept on coming with the announcement that the operation had partnered with Sony Pictures Entertainment and its Sony Pictures Virtual Reality division to create "Men In Black: First Assignment," the latest immersive VR experience for the companies free-roaming location-based facility business — and marks the second licensed IP deployed on site. The 35-minute experience has players free-fly on intergalactic hoverbikes to save the planet from evil Octopoid invaders, taking the players through the world of MIB.

There has been an incredible momentum upon exiting lockdown, and there are some significant trends shaping this new business that could drive the market to a new level of dominance across the leisure entertainment landscape.

(Editor's note: Extracts from this blog are from recent coverage in The Stinger Report, published by KWP and its director, Kevin Williams, the leading interactive out-of-home entertainment news service covering the immersive frontier and beyond.)

Music & Games

About Kevin Williams

Along with advisory positions with other entrants into the market he is founder and publisher of the Stinger Report, “a-must-read” e-zine for those working or investing in the amusement, attractions and entertainment industry. He is a prolific writer and provides regular news columns for main trade publications. He also travels the globe as a keynote speaker, moderator and panelist at numerous industry conferences and events. Author of “The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities,” the only book on this aspect of the market, with the second edition scheduled for a 2023 release.

Connect with Kevin: