Commentary

OOH VR innovation blossoms during pandemic

One of the worst months of the pandemic saw a multitude of new and exciting announcements in a pent-up outpouring of out-of-home virtual reality news.

Image courtesy of iStock.

March 8, 2021 by Kevin Williams

While some had been quick to call VR dead in the face of the pandemic, those assumptions have been found to be worthless and, while the whole of the amusement and attraction sector licks its wounds and looks towards future investment, the out-of-home VR scene has come out of the slips at a gallop. December saw a multitude of new and exciting announcements in a pent-up outpouring of news that would have normally been part of the IAAPA trade show reveals.

First off was from Canada-based Minority Media — the company behind the VR enclosure platform for the amusement sector announced it had partnered with The Entertainment and Education Group towards penetrating the Australian FEC market. The company is placing several of its latest "Transformer VR: Battle Arena" concepts at two Kingpin bowling locations in the country.

TEEG is well known for its multiple FEC holdings, including its TimeZone chain. TEEG is jointly owned by Quadrant Private Equity and the LAI Group, with some 300 FEC operations in the Asia Pacific region. Minority Media sees this move as a way to grow its location-based entertainment business and look towards new opportunities in the emerging market. The VR arena system is part of a rollout in this territory, supported by the company's partner.

The Hasbro Transformer movie IP has been developed for another major VR release. Where Minority Media is focused on VR amusement, Robocom VR has developed a VR motion experience based on its "KA-1" platform (previously known as the "Starblade"). Called "Transformer VR: Invasion of the Decepticons," the system offers an energetic motion system, with the player battling within the movie universe, blasting Decepticons from their gun emplacement.

The interactive motion experience was first seen in the plans for the grand "Pixel" leisure destination venue in the Abu Dhabi Al Qana social and entertainment destination. Robocom VR is now launching the system to sell to other operators looking for a VR motion experience. No word yet on who the sales agent for the system in the West will be, or its first Western installation.

Hologate on the move

Another big announcement of new and exciting content was from industry leader Hologate. The company revealed a major signing with Dark Slope Studios, developers of the global sensation "Slugterra." This team-based competitive arena style game offers a wide selection of class-based characters and brings a lot of the fast-paced competitive blasting action to the "Hologate Arena" platform.

"Slugterra" is based on a popular animated television series that was also turned into a successful mobile game — the Slugterra-universe revolves around the competitive game of Slug-Slinging, which is suitable for a wide age group. The game will be added to a growing library of Hologate titles to support different walks of players and interests.

The company announced that, for the over-400 operators of "Hologate Arena" systems, the platform has added multiple new licensing plans to get access to this growing library on its "Gateway" backend system. This also includes adding a credit card payment system, in addition to a PayPal option. Hologate is working hard to offer the best support to operators coming out of lockdown and needing to get the most out of the popular system.

Virtuix launches 'Zombies'

Another leading developer of VR enclosure systems announced its latest content release. Virtuix announced the launch of "Dead Zone: Zombies" for its popular "Omni Arena" attraction. The new game offers a strong e-sports element for four players over two rounds. Players can select from some 15 different weapons to blast and slash through hordes of undead opponents.

The game is supported by Virtuix's monthly e-sports tournament feature — which has players competing for an annual $100,000 prize pool. The new game will see a dedicated global leaderboard, with intense competition — drawing both players and audiences to the action. The annual prize pool is sponsored by Virtuix and HP.

Regarding the arena-scale, free-roaming VR venue operation, more developments were revealed, following on from the above coverage of the new installation by Backlight at Area15.

Glostation USA exits bankruptcy

In other news, it was revealed by Bloomberg that the U.S. subsidiary for Sandbox VR, Glostation USA, had pulled itself out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December after undergoing a major restructuring and refunding process. As previously reported, the subsidiary had filed for protection, impacted by the closure of its U.S. and Asian VR LBE operations and also seeing the departure of the then-CEO and 80% of the team. Now, five months later, the operation has re-emerged and Glostation USA is receiving an injection of some $13.6 million from the parent company to address outstanding debts and assist in the reopening of their US operations.

As previously covered, Sandbox VR's North American operation has started a gradual process of reopening its venues based on state-by-state restrictions under COVID measures. It has now opened some six venues in North America and Asia. Sandbox VR had previously received serious investment from major firms before the impact of the global health crisis, raising some $80 million in a series of rounds. This had also attracted A-list celebrities to the ranks, as well as licensing major IP that was turned into 20-minute free-roaming immersive experiences such as the "Star Trek: Discovery Away Mission" experience.

The corporation had been in the process of opening 20 new sites before the pandemic impacted business. We await to hear plans on the new rollout plans from the new management.

As these arena scale VR operations emerge after their enforced hibernation, questions will be raised over the market they are now inhabiting. Sandbox VR had previously partnered with motion capture specialist Vicon, with ambitious rollout plans for 2020 and beyond.

We certainly have not heard the last of VR innovation during the pandemic.

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: