Commentary

The myriad directions of competitive socializing expansion

A key aspect of the expanding competitive social landscape is the need to adapt various entertainment trends in a recessionary and labor challenged business climate.

Image provided by 501 Entertainment.

July 10, 2023 by Kevin Williams

Competitive socializing continues its fast growth in out-of-home entertainment, with some interesting twists driven by the need to address the recession and staff shortages while meeting a demand for food and beverage along with some more conventional amusement offerings.

The importance of entertainment into this mix is everchanging, with a slight move away from the more immersive systems seen in the space. However, finding the right mix of systems is an ongoing mission, and the traditional amusement trade needs to step up to the challenge.

501 Entertainment, a Kent, U.K. based provider of social entertainment technology that is also represented by Sega Amusement International, recently announced its "Smart Darts" platform with a licensed game "Bullseye" based on the popular 1980s U.K. gameshow, along with "Puck It" air hockey and "Hoop It" basketball, "Super Kixx Pro" and other lines – offering a competitive social element aimed at the target demographic.

The company claims "customer behavior is changing, resulting in the rise of social entertainment."

The immersion factor

With regards to VR's deployment in this scene, developments continued with news that the ambitious chain Sandbox VR will be part of the vision to diversify the use of the Bullring & Grand Central in Birmingham. Scheduled to open a 13,000-square-foot VR space with social entertainment at its heart, this will include a robotic bartender called Toni who can shake, stir and serve up to 80 drinks per hour.

In an interesting post from the CEO of the company, it was revealed that some 1 million tickets had been sold across the chain since it started six years ago, but the interesting fact was that it was within the September 2022 to February 2023 period that saw half of these purchases made.

The constant onward march of Sandbox VR to establish a landgrab has seen a rush to open new venues, recently announcing the opening of its second Las Vegas location since taking over the failed The Void property within the Venetian Casino Resort. The new addition marks its 40th site, with 12 sites opened in 2023 alone.

This is a remarkable trajectory for a company that started in 2017 with a single Hong Kong site under the GloStation brand, receiving initial investment from Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund and other Chinese supporters and then going on through series A and B investments raising $37 million from investors.

In continuing to support the growth, the company announced the launch of the game "Seekers of the Shard: Dragonfire," a six-player adventure that sees the players travel through a magical castle in a game that will feature branching storylines.

Another developer/operator of immersive entertainment spaces, Birmingham based meetspaceVR, announced continued investment in the U.K. scene, revealing its sixth site in Guildford. At the Riverside Business Centre, the company will open a 2,400-square-foot arena to feature Zero Latency, the sixth eight-player Zero Latency installation in the U.K. and the 60th installation internationally.

One of the first U.K.-based VR arcade operators, DNA VR, announced its first venue outside of London. The Manchester site will include VR booths and free-roaming arenas, including VR escape gaming.

Meanwhile, another U.K. operation, The Park Playground, announced the opening of its 13th facility and its second U.K. location, planned for Birmingham. This new venue, it was revealed by Blooloop, will include its new NanoClash Focusing, a competitive sport, immersive VR battle experience developed in a collaboration between HTC and Triangle Factory, for between four and eight players wearing the HTC Focus 3 headsets. This news follows the announcement of plans to open an Australian venue in Brisbane, this year.

Food and beverage

Along with urban entertainment venues and the latest VR centers, we see the explosion in the mixture of food and beverage in competitive socializing, with a secondary competitive game focus.

The importance of the food and beverage offering is often underestimated in competitive socializing. The nightclub and social drink element of these venues, a strong revenue stream, is seen by some as the "Pub 2.0" of their generation.

Much of this can trace its roots to the growth in social bowling back in the late 2010s, and many of the leading lights in this scene have started aggressive rollout plans fueled by the new popularity.

Lane7 is opening two venues in London and its first attraction in Europe, and Level X is launching a new site in Middlesbrough. This is part of the lineup of leisure operators within the new Bullring & Grand Central in Birmingham, alongside Sandbox VR, Toca Social and Treetop Adventure Golf as the first entertainment tenants.

Lane7 also revealed plans for a location in Dublin City to open at the end of the year, as well as a new site in London's Victoria area.

While Lane7 offers a boutique bowling experience, the operation has been working on a more mixed-entertainment brief with its Level X sites — representing a family entertainment concept with futuristic and immersive attractions.

The first of this concept is opening in Glasgow, comprising a VR zone called Alt Verse and a new-style bowling called Gutterball. This is supported by a retro amusement zone called Level Up along with KPod — karaoke and Big Putt — mini golf attractions. This is a concept that the company has called an "immersive, tech-led gaming and entertainment space."

In what has been reported as the U.K.'s first live interactive arcade gaming venue, opened in London during May, we see one of the latest examples of active entertainment. Called Energize Games – this represents a physical and mental interactive gaming experience, comprising 11 different game rooms, supporting between two and up to five players at a time, using wearables to track their scores.

Each game comprises up to 11 levels of competition. While called arcade style games, these experiences stretch the players' physical fitness, mental dexterity and problem-solving skills. Interactive illuminated floors, digital screens and laser-gun environments are just some of the experiences employed. Active entertainment for an older generation is being seen as a growing genre in the sector.

The latest Boom Battle Bar chain opened its doors in the heart of London's Oxford Street crowded retail center. The new venue was one of the first to reflect the new ownership from XP Factory — the owners of the Escape Hunt escape room business. And the new location was one of the first social entertainment venues to include a dedicated escape room component to the mix.

The new site comprises nine distinct entertainment offerings, ranging from hoops, AR axe throwing, AR darts, pool, shuffleboard, beer pong, crazy-golf and karaoke booths.

Golf entertainment

Regarding the golf entertainment scene, the U.K. saw the opening of its first Topgolf venue with Topgolf Glasgow. This physical golfing entertainment experience, married to gamified elements and a strong hospitality offering, has gained traction.

This was echoed by another announcement that PopStroke had seen a "material investment" by TaylorMade Golf. The Tiger Woods supported golf-entertainment concept has recently opened its second site and looks to use this new investment in a significant rollout.

Meanwhile, one of the originators of the explosion in social entertainment with a mini-golf application, Puttshack, created by executives involved with the creation of Topgolf, announced the opening of its seventh U.S. store in Denver, a 24,000-square-foot single floor location in the River North Art District.

One aspect of the changing landscape, along with the changing global conditions, is needing to adapt to optimization, to address the recessional and cost of living conditions, as well as staff shortages. These are factors which all in the entertainment, hospitality and retail sectors now face.

(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.)

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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.

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