The commercial VR entertainment is charted by industry specialist Kevin Williams, in his latest Virtual Arena column – and in this second part of his feature and he look’s at the launch of Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity and the free-roaming VR experience created around the Ubisoft property for commercial entertainment.
In this second part of our regular coverage, and we continue to look at the new investment seen in the commercial entertainment market, from a London perspective. Following the global lockdown in business, a new thirst for location-based entertainment (LBE) can be charted internationally.
The investment in the standard VR arcade has grown towards a greater variety of experiences on offer (as was seen in the previous part of our coverage). The addition of free-roaming backpack PC VR has mushroomed, the latest phase of the deployment of this commercial entertainment into the market. Back in 2019, we charted in our column the appearance in London of a facility that was dedicated to offering Arena Scale VR through their purpose-built venue – MeetspaceVR located at Wembley’s BoxPark.
With the Zero Latency VR free-roaming installation, we have revisited the site and seen the growth of the business, including a VR escape room component, all part of continued investment. We returned as one of the first LBE VR sites we visited recommences business. Especially as the company has installed the latest free-roaming title and marketed a major development in the cross over between commercial and consumer IP.
The Ubisoft property Far Cry has been given the free-roaming multiple player VR experience, in a partnership with Zero Latency VR, and one of the first locations to install this new game was MeetspaceVR. The game can run eight players through the virtual environment, but due to capacity conditions following COVID is currently only operating six player games. The hardware in operation is the latest Gen2 version of the Zero Latency VR platform with HP Reverb G2 headsets and the latest PC backpacks and force-feedback weapons: totally immersing the players in a high-end VR experience.
With Far Cry VR the experience of the video game universe has been condensed into several compelling sequences as the players work as a team to escape the murderous clutches of their captor and his soldiers. To achieve the needed level of immersion and storytelling, Ubisoft and Zero Latency VR turned to UK game developers nDreams. Known for their successful development of Phantom: Covert Ops and other titles – the company’s pedigree is allowed to shine on the powerful high-end immersive hardware used in this free-roaming experience, and the AAA quality of the game is evident.
Designed for team play, with hordes of enemy, appearing in cover-based shooting sections, where the players must watch each other’s backs, and pick off attackers, up-close, or at distance. This is achieved by giving the player the ability to swap between an assault weapon and a crossbow for distance shooting. But the action has been spaced out to allow players time to catch their breath, as well as pulled into a drug-fuelled experience in the caves of the tropical island that has become their prison – pricing at £29.99 per player for the multi-player experiences.
After a 30-minute team-based game, the player is totally immersed in the experience, and the action proved a real workout, wielding the gun and blasting attackers with a heart-pounding final boss battle. Having tried all the Zero Latency VR game experiences since they launched, this game is the most refined, and feels like a AAA title – but also has learned from much of the experience the company has gained rolling out their platform across over 50-venues internationally.
This is the latest move by Ubisoft towards cross-platform promotion of their IP in the commercial entertainment space – with the ‘Virtual Rabbids’ VR amusement platform, the Ubisoft Escape Game VR experiences and now the license for free-roaming adaptation of their properties. It is expected that this will not be the last time we will see major game and movie properties appearing in LBE VR venues, and we expect to announce, another major property makes its way to the commercial entertainment scene in the coming weeks.
The commercial VR entertainment sector is charted by industry specialist Kevin Williams, in his latest Virtual Arena column – this two-part feature starts with a look at London’s newest VR Arcade location, and the growing chain of DNA VR facilities that are leaving their mark across the capital.
Coming out of the global lockdown, and the drive towards growing the location-based entertainment (LBE) landscape continues anew. In this first part of our regular coverage, we tap into the new openings and investment seen in the commercial entertainment market starting close to home and the London growth in business.
London has become an influential city location for the emergence of social entertainment and immersive experience deployment. One of the first venues that we have visited as the business re-commences, following the extensive privations of lockdown, has been the new DNA VR venue at the iconic Battersea power station space on the Southside of the Thames.
DNA VR is an excellent starting point, as this was one of the first examples of a VR arcade brand to open in London and was one of the first locations visited in our Virtual Arena column back in 2017. Jump forward four years and DNA VR has come a long way from a basement in a North London parade of shops. With the opening of this new venue, DNA VR expands their operation to three venues, (Camden and Hammersmith the other sites).
The venue model developed by the company follows the proven formula of three areas of VR entertainment. The first being access to a wide selection of the latest “VR Arcade” titles supplied for commercial entertainment deployment, the new Battersea site comprising 11 stations where tethered HTC Vive Pro headsets and controllers allow access to the latest games. The second aspect is “Premium Free-Roaming” – the ability for up to four players to done backpack PC’s and VR headsets and weapons and freely navigate VR environments wirelessly. And the final offering is that of “VR Escape Room” – six players to enter virtual re-creations of the physical escape room experience.
One of the game stations in action. Image credit: KWP
The DNA VR facility has been designed to attract the widest audience interest – from the novice to the prosumer interested in virtual entertainment. Along with two extra-large stations built to accommodate wheelchair access, the venue also comprises an upstairs environment dedicated for use in free-roaming and VR escape room gaming. The company has also licensed the Ubisoft Escape Game VR range of experiences, based around their consumer titles IP offering a unique immersive experience, (this will not be the only Ubisoft VR content we will be covering in this two-part report).
One of the most important aspects of deploying a successful LBE operation is the cultivating of a regular audience and offering an experience that is compelling to draw repeat visitation. The ability to have a strong line-up of compelling game experiences achieves much of this, and DNA VR had on tap titles such as Arizona Sunshine and Prince of Persia: The Dagger of Time, along with many other of the most popular VR arcade releases – pricing ranging from £19 to £40 per-player and based on multiple or single-player experiences.
The unique upstairs free-roaming space. Image credit: KWP
DNA VR is an example of the power and scope of location-based entertainment deployment to generate business. Not everyone has access to consumer VR, and not everyone has access to the quality and variety of experiences tailored for a commercial footing. The owners behind the brand have learned a considerable amount about the deployment and operation of VR for a pay-to-play audience, and the requirements of packaging the best-priced experience.
Those that were prepared to learn the valuable lessons and shape their experience to the requirements of the entertainment markets needs have prospered. But likewise, those that tried to force their interpretation without much knowledge have floundered and fallen by the wayside, as was seen with IMAX VR. And interest is growing again in the establishment of VR arcade business. Recently OTHERWORLD, a London based VR venue that has also been covered in our VRFocus column announced a new investment to roll out five new venues based on their VR pod branded operation.
This concludes the first part of our two-part coverage; the second part looks at brand new IP and experiences opening across the countrys capital.
Rather than going to the arcade, industry specialist Kevin Williams, in his latest Virtual Arena column charts the rise in popularity of VR amusement games on consumer platforms, and how an actual amusement manufacturing company looks to launch their own virtual recreation of the amusement experience, which you can manage yourself.
The arcade experience is a popular zeitgeist, especially for an audience that has restricted mobility to local venues. Home arcade game ownership has been supported by a profusion of miniature arcade cabs. For those that do not have the space or deep pockets to build their own arcade, there is the ability to achieve this experience in VR.
We saw a mainstream attempt at feeding the continuing hunger for amusement gaming back in 2015 on the then Samsung GearVR, powered by Oculus. The platform would see the launch of ‘Oculus Arcade’, which would be ported onto other Oculus hardware like the Go – players able to assemble a collection of 22 recreations of classic video-arcade games. Virtual cabs they could play on such as Pac-Man and Defender, supported by licensed products from manufacturers SEGA, Namco and Midway. Though in the end the game would be abandoned due to unclear contractual reasons.
The Oculus Arcade experience
We have also seen perfusion of VR creations of amusement games like shooting the hoops, and arcade builders and management games, such as the releases New Retro Arcade: Neon, and VR Toolbox DLC ‘80’s Arcade’. At the same time, we see other attempts at arcade management games. Social VR offerings like Rec Room have included their own interpretations of the arcade hall-style experience, able to shoot some hoops with friends in VR. But many, if not all, of these interpretations of amusement fun, have been shallow experiences.
It was time for real amusement developers to apply their skills in this medium.
For the first time, an amusement manufacturer has ventured into the world of virtual amusement entertainment. LAI Games is a well-known video amusement, prize, and redemption machine manufacturer. Prior to becoming a subsidiary under Helix Leisure Pty Ltd, LAI Games was part of the Timezone Group and sister company to the popular ‘Timezone’ amusement facility chain. So, the company knows a thing or two about amusement and its operation.
LAI has grown an extensive R&D resource that has been responsible for much of the innovation being applied to the new generation of amusement pieces that break the mould and aim to offer a new level of engagement for the modern amusement audience. Highly themed, with strong illumination and an even stronger gaming ethos. Titles like the company’s new release HYPERshoot – a re-imaging of the basketball hoops game, with immersive lighting, and audio cues, along with much more competitive gameplay. The need for modern amusement to be both compelling and enthralling is evident in these releases. The unique style of eye-catching presentation and compelling gameplay has fathered a sequel title in the same vein with HYPERpitch, a baseball-style pitching game.
LAI Games’ real multi award-winner HYPERshoot. Image Credit: LAI Games
The company is no stranger to the explosion in VR, having developed in partnership with Ubisoft, and D-BOX on Virtual Rabbid’s: The Big Ride – one of the leading sellers in the VR amusement machine genre, with well over 700 units sold across the world. But in the time of the Global Health Crisis, and LAI had an extensive R&D resource in Singapore looking to broaden their coverage under lockdown. It was in these conditions that the R&D operation decided that if the player cannot come to the arcade, then they will ship the arcade to the player. And so was born the new consumer VR game app called Arcade Legend.
The unique element of Arcade Legend is it is much more than loving recreations of real amusement gaming pieces but is also a management game – with the story gifting the ownership of a dilapidated and rundown amusement hall that they get to renovate and populate with machines, laying out the space, and attempting to attract players. The success of this represented by the number of NPC’s playing the machines. The game also allows multi-player allowing players to invite their friends to their creation.
Add and customize multiple units of HYPERshoot for multiplayer action. Image credit: LAI Games
VR offers the recreation of LAI’s games into this space. The company creating enhanced versions of their titles Let’s Bounce, Stacker, Speed of Light and the eye-catching HYPERshoot. The immersive representation adding a new level to the gameplay, allowing an audience to get to grips with these highly addictive amusements. The player able to manipulate the colour configurations and the price to play for all their machines.
Virtual version of LAI Games’ multi award-winner Let’s Bounce. Image credit: LAI Games
But the game itself is much more than virtual simulations of the popular amusement hardware, the player must manage their arcade, building up a varied selection of games, attractions, and facilities to draw an audience, and price accordingly. LAI’s team is first looking at a list of their own videogames for the player to select from.
But it’s also in the early stages of discussions to have the inclusion of other real-world amusement hardware from other manufacturers offering depth to the game experience. Details teased suggest it has already secured a deal with another manufacturer, to include “…one of the most popular games in the history of our industry”, with Arcade Legend. Along with additional titles to follow.
The company has started the process of an early roll-out of the videogame. First releasing a teaser experience outlining the features of the experience and collecting player feedback towards a full release later in the year. Players can try the experience for themselves at the upcoming Steam Next Fest from June 16-22.
In this second of a two-part feature in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams marks the six-year anniversary of HTC’s Vive platform in Commercial Entertainment. Concluding this look, we chart the influence of the Vive in the current LBE marketplace and the future developments for the road ahead.
TheHTC Vive headset had become the de facto VR platform for those looking to enter the LBE VR scene. The original designs of the early part of this phase of development leant themselves more towards one-off creations, aping the pop-up design roots of many of the start-up developers. But the amusement and attraction trade would turn their considerable experience towards making systems that would fit the needs of the entertainment facility operators and prove robust to survive in this unique market.
Growing the Market
A very popular deployment of pay-to-play VR has been LAI Games’ Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride. The concept of riders experiencing a motion-seat VR experience was not new but was based on the marriage of a 4D virtual experience developed in 2015 by videogame publisher Ubisoft, incorporating their lovable Rabbids IP. The combination led to a successful platform, launched in 2017 that has seen over 500 units fielded internationally. The concept has seen many emulators and has proven to be one of the most prolific VR amusement systems in the market, with many more people having their first VR experience on the ride system.
Many amusement manufacturers have looked to deploy VR in a fieldable amusement suitable package, and we have seen shooting, and driving games deployed with VR hardware. On most occasions the headset of choice has been the HTC Vive, gaining a reputation as a reliable go-to platform for this kind of deployment. Companies like IGS having launched a combination of racing game, motion-driver-cockpit and VR effects experience, with the release of OVERTAKE VR. The machine marking a major point in the LBE VR scene, where amusement operators started to see VR experiences as a reliable revenue generator.
One of the leading developers in the VR attraction scene is HOLOGATE – the company is famous for its ‘HOLOGATE Arena’ that has proven to be one of the most successful fielded platforms in the sector, with over 400 units operational internationally. The company launched its first system in 2017 and utilized the HTC Vive – comprising a tethered enclosure for four players. The company has established a large library of content, supporting its platform with an infrastructure to support operators, and ensure player enjoyment. Adding VR escape gaming and competitive titles to the roster. Constantly building to grow their installed base with new releases, such as announcing Slugterra, now on its systems worldwide.
Designing near mini-attraction platforms utilizing VR have driven many operators and developers, also marrying these new systems to well-known IP broadening the appeal. This can be seen by another large installation of VR attractions, developed for the Urban Entertainment facility chain, Dave & Buster’s. Working with VRstudios, along with several manufacturers, they created a multi-player motion simulator system. First released as the Jurassic World VR Expedition, the system used a motion base, HTC Vive and controllers to play in the virtual recreation of the movie. The company would go on to install over 100 simulators across their chain of facilities with other experiences based on movie IP such as Men in Black, Terminator, and Star Trek Discovery.
Venturing into the Jurassic World in VR
The theme park sector has still been infatuated with the opportunity that immersive technology represents, though the limitations of the current VR hardware still present a difficult challenge to overcome. The deployment of more convenient head-mounted displays (HMD) has seen the development of new technology based on the Vive. Critically acclaimed The Twilight Saga: Midnight Ride, developed by Framestore, an attraction launched at Lionsgate Entertainment World in 2019, comprises a unique modular design of the HTC Vive headset for usage on large throughput attractions. The simple head strap and separate display unit ease cleaning and operation. Uniquely configured headsets only for LBE application, illustrating the influence of the sector.
The unique VR tethered attraction experience
When discussing the influence of HTC’s VR efforts in commercial entertainment it is important not to just look at the HTC Vive. The company has also seen its Vive Focus deployed as a VR entertainment system. Companies such as Modal VR installed their PING videogame experience at venues back in 2018. And more recently developer Pillow’s Willow VR Studio and its highly active Exodus Burned has also utilized a Vive Focus headset approach. These standalone VR game platforms utilized the capabilities of the Focus and pointed towards an opportunity for free-roaming VR experiences that used lower performance VR hardware, so cutting the tether or removing the backpack PC. This development opening the door to the next generation of VR entertainment innovation.
HTC Vive Focus plays its part in LBE
Current Generation
Most recently the VR amusement platform has been refined to offer a self-service kiosk approach, with the deployment of tethered automatically retractable headsets. Leading the development of this approach has been VRsenal, who have launched their VR kiosks system, originally with Beat Saber Arcade. Underpinning the influence of strong IP, and VRsenal have worked with ILMxLAB and Nomadicto launch Lightsaber Dojo: A Star Wars VR Experience. Eagerly anticipated, offering the thrills of a fast pace game based on a popular brand.
The creation of more free-roaming VR experiences has captivated the latest investment into immersive entertainment. With the reopening of facilities and new investment has seen advanced developments building on the lessons learned. The opening of the heavily-publicised AREA15 location in Las Vegas has revealed one of their secret projects, with the launch of OZ Immersive – a multiple player platform developed by BackLight studios. The system based on the experience that the company has gathered in developing other Arena Scale attractions (such as ToyLand) and their line-up of VR escape games. The release of this first system is part of a rollout across other venues.
Virtual escape gaming shaping the future
While not everyone in the entertainment scene has the available space to install a hyper-reality experience on-site, there is a definite draw to have one of these platforms in the entertainment mix. With that in mind,Immersive Tech has revealed its plans to roll out its ‘UNCONTAINED’ VR platform. Housed in a shipping container, this allows a facility to install a VR experience within a matter of hours. The game platform being launched at the end of the year has already generated much excitement, utilizing a mix of Escape Room entertainment and immersive reality excitement. The company developing containers that house two play space for up to three players each, using wireless HTC Vive Pros.
Building the Next-Generation
Some observers would feel HTC stumble in trying to grow in the casual VR scene with its Cosmos series, launched back in 2019. A platform that was poorly defined, and badly constructed for what the then market expected, the system would even fall flat for consideration for commercial deployment. This impetus would see HTC redouble their investment into the space and focus on the core business elements that established the HTC Vive as such a pivotal system.
In redefining its future direction, HTC would reveal this year at ViveCon a new strategy in the space. Launching the HTC Vive Pro 2 that built on many of the successful elements of the original Vive hardware but offered greatly enhanced visual performance and an ability to include the latest immersive features such as facial tracking, wireless adapters and much more. A recognizable continuation of the Vive Pro series.
At the same time the company announced the launch of Vive Business, a dedicated division focused on the support of Enterprise users, with SDK support and the creation of an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partnership program. During ViveCon HTC held several panel sessions covering the key areas of commercial support, including a session on LBE and Arts that saw an appearance by HOLOGATE, describing how they see the LBE VR landscape going forward.
One of the ISV partners that did not get coverage in the Western response to ViveCon, was the Chinese LBE VR facility developerImmersive World. With some 14-stores in the territory, the operation offers a free-roaming style entertainment experience and has worked alongside HTC, looking at an ISV to incorporate the new headset technology, and grow their facility business. This is an example of the LBE business that HTC continues to nurture and proves a profitable revenue stream.
In conclusion, HTC has proven itself against many of its naysayers. Where many felt that only consumer VR sales would establish the market, the adoption of supporting the growth of immersive entertainment in the Out-of-Home landscape has grown a vital market share. And introduced much innovation.
We look forward to seeing how the HTC Vive Pro 2 will fit into the updating and reinvestment in the commercial entertainment landscape. But also, we hope that the new Vive Focus 3 will take its place with the other standalone VR headsets looking at this market as a profitable vertical. Out-of-Home entertainment preparing for a new renaissance as the audiences return.
In his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams takes a walk beyond the normal immersive entertainment projects he reports on, and looks at the deployment of immersive technology into the arts, with the launch of the world’s first hyper-reality opera experience.
Current,Rising. Image credit Figment Productions and Joanne Scotcher
Marking the beginning of the reopening of exhibitions, events and attractions in certain localities, this report covers the opening of a brand new exhibit that takes immersive technology into a new medium. What has been dubbed #Artainment – a collision of the arts and culture with the entertainment medium. But this is much more nuanced, representing immersive experiences developed to transcend more traditional gallery, theatre, and live event approaches to the arts.
The adoption of VR as a medium to immerse an audience into an artist realm is not a new application. And has seen many curators embrace the technology as it evolves. The National Theatre in London during 2016 debuted their production wonder.land, a modern Alice in Wonderland, with a VR experience developed in collaboration between Fifty Nine Productions and Play Nicely. Audiences transported into the magical portal of the lead character, viewed from sitting on toilets.
There have been many other artistic deployments of immersive technology into the museum, gallery and theatre scene (recently we reported on the VR attraction the Tutankhamun Exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery). But for the world of opera, they had only toyed with the VR medium, with such deployments as the 2017 premier of We Cannot Sleep, as an immersive viewing experience using Samsung GearVR’s, and special VR content to place the audience into the heart of the narrative.
The beginning of May saw a brand-new experiment in blending historic stagecraft, artistic excellence, and cutting-edge technology. Launched by The Royal Opera House, in London’s Covent Garden – this project sees a UK Research and Innovation funded development that brings together an all-female-led creative team, working with, award-winning Figment Productions and Royal Holloway, University of London. As part of the Royal Opera House’s innovation programme, Audience Labs – looking at new ways to engage the audience within the artistic experience.
Using the medium of Hyper Reality and based on the free-roaming platform developed by Figment Productions. A company with an extensive background in theme park attractions, (as we reported recently regarding Derren Brown’s Ghost Train VR experience). Working closely with the artistic leads, they have created the experience called Current, Rising.
A 15-minute experience inspired by the liberation of Ariel, at the end of Shakespeare’s Tempest. Groups of four guests at a time are taken through the multi-sensory opera, employing all the artifice of the free-roaming experience. But in this experiment, the audience is transported into a world exploring the possibilities of VR to expand the idea of what an opera can be, both in the process of creation and in the audience experience.
Current, Rising. Image credit Johan Persson
Guests don PC VR backpacks while wearing the latest HP Reverb headsets that include Ultraleap hand tracking. The combined platform allows the four guests to see their hands within the virtual world as well as ghostly representations of their fellow travellers through this realm. Starting in a neutral space, the guests enter the virtual environment and then navigate around the space, immersive by sight and sound, elements of the music and performance incorporated into the content.
Current Rising, ROH, 2020, Credit: Johan Persson
For many of those that will experience this, it will be their first time in VR, let alone, a Hyper-Reality presentation. The use of real-world effects like wind, rumble, movement, and tactile objects overwhelming the senses. Rather than a game experience, this is an ability to exist within a space, and comprehend the message of the performance. And proved a thought-provoking utilization of this technology.
The experience space is within the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre and starting from 21 May until 10 June, this incredibly specialized experiment has been developed to conform with the current restrictions, strictly adhering to social distancing guidelines. Guests who want to try this will have to book ahead to register for tickets via the theatres online box-office. A unique and compelling experience for those that are lucky enough to try it. This marks the first in a series of special reports that will commence, as we chart the reopening of many new immersive entertainment venues internationally, and we travel to see how the sector is adapting to the new conditions and the innovation being launched onto a very hungry entertainment market.
In the first of a two-part feature in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams marks the six-year anniversary of HTC’s Vive platform in commercial entertainment – initially looking at the lesser reported history of the VR tech in this scene and the influence it has had on shaping the business.
While many are focused on the consumer sales of virtual reality (VR), the commercial (enterprise) aspects of the market seem to be the new recruiting sergeant for innovation and advanced design. Following a major launch of new VR hardware, HTC shines a light on this approach. But it’s the commercial entertainment deployment that also needs some perspective to better understand the thinking going forward for VR adoption.
HTC is a company that has epitomised the eventual separation of the VR community between the “Serious VR” and the “Casual VR” businesses. While many would see consumer videogames as a vital aspect of the industry, it is still a casual pursuit, and with the projection of the standalone VR scene as the focus of considerable investment this can overshadow the rest of the business. But as has been seen VR headset manufacturers now pivot towards a B2B, high-end PC-VR, approach.
– Early Period
HTC entered the VR space in 2016, being the first to field a PC-VR headset. Much of this lead was achieved by the licensing and partnership with Valve. This relationship fostered in the ashes of Valve’s abandoned involvement with Oculus. This after the controversial loaning of the famous Valve ‘VR Room’ proof of concept that defined the fundamentals of tracking, strong immersive display, and comprehensive controllers. Much of the lessons taught by the ‘VR Room’, would lead to the creation of Lighthouse tracking infrastructure, a mainstay of the platform. Allowing the HTC Vive to offer room-scale VR while others initially offered seated only VR.
The famous Valve “VR Room” in operation
Selling at first to prosumers and commercial buyers, it was obvious that VR had drawing appeal, and while complicated hardware, the interest to use Vive systems in promotional work, as Pop-Up installations, allowing an audience to experience immersion that would normally be out of their price point. HTC working with many corporations to create deployable pop-up promotional experiences, such as the 2016 ‘Fantasy Forest VR Experience’ in partnership with Walt Disney and a promotional tool for their new Jungle Book properties.
The Asian focus of the Taiwanese corporation has seen HTC partner with many companies in this territory. Regarding LBE development, HTC would sign a partnership with Chinese based LEKE VR. The company had already penetrated the VR amusement scene selling several of their unique VR platforms, and with the partnership with HTC could represent their VR headsets into the market, with LEKE VR getting early access to the new HTC VIVE Pro. This business approach would go on to feed HTC’s aspirations in this sector.
Deep Ocean Adventure from LEKE VR
Taking the basic idea of the pop-up installation and placing experiences in a dedicated showroom environment led to HTC devising the creation of their own entertainment facility. Under the VIiveport Arcade brand, the company opened several Taiwanese based VR arcades, acting both as a showroom of HTC hardware, but also offering VR game experiences that the audience could try. The company would continue to invest in a facility style approach to the deployment of their hardware, and would even open HTC VIVELAND, with more attractions created by third-party developers on the hardware.
One of the many experiences at VIVELAND
It was more than obvious the high price of VR technology and the skill set needed to effectively field this hardware that there would be an opportunity for commercial entertainment centres to operate as VR arcades. The hardware of choice would become the HTC Vive in the West, and one of the first to effectively roll out a chain of facilities was CTRL-V in Canada. Their first facility in 2016 would be located near the University of Waterloo campus and would set the model. With 16-stations for players to try out the latest VR experiences on the HTC Vive from a custom library of VR content. From this first facility, the company would go on to roll out a chain of some 10 facilities across the territory and be a popular model of excellence in VR arcades that others emulate. Proving the draw of a pay-to-play model for VR entertainment.
Inside one of the first CTRL-V facilities
Regarding Western LBE VR applications, one of the first to gain traction in 2016 was from Virtuix, forming a joint venture with Hero Entertainment to create Crisis Action – using the Omni-directional treadmill, players could compete in the hectic shooter, that used HTC Vive headsets. This concept would solidify and be relaunched as the standalone ‘OMNI Arena’ system that has seen a strong penetration into the amusement facility scene and is supported by a thriving eSports championship business.
The initial design for Crisis Action
More unusual applications of VR hardware have been in the deployment for visitor attractions, using the immersive experience to entertain the gathered audience. One of the early examples was the Sky Circus Sunshine, located on the observation deck of the Tokyo landmark, several VR experiences simulated heart-pounding aerial exploits some 700 feet in the air from the towering structure. Including being launched from a cannon, or riding an immense swing. Deployed using the HTC headset, content developed by specialists Hashilus, who would go on to create other innovative pop-up entertainment installations in VR.
One of the many unusual VR experiences at the observatory
The deployment of VR as more of an attraction would not be seen until the launch byMerlin Entertainment of ‘Derren Brown’s Ghost Train’ at Thorp Park. A unique attraction married VR experiences interspersed around a ghost train application. Some 14 passengers transported from a tube train through numerous environments including digital and grand scale illusions. The attraction, VR elements developed by Figment Productions, first launched in 2016 would see several revisions to address issues, and would prove a mixed bag with audiences, but paved the way for the deployment of VR, and in particularly HTC Vive headsets in large audience configurations. Opening the door to other VR attractions that would follow.
First virtual scares for theme park guests
The landscape to establishing LBE VR has been littered with many failures, and projects such as the IMAX VR arcade andHub Zero as some of the more notorious false steps, but there has also been an incredibly successful and lucrative business in supporting the LBE VR scene for HTC, an aspect of their business not only involving unit sales of the Vive but also support and maintenance and an extensive software and firmware support infrastructure.
The amusement trade would see arguably some of the greatest penetration of VR hardware in an entertainment format, with key leading developers selling in the hundreds of VR amusement variants, and establishing a new genre of product.
One of the first to investigate the possibilities of VR for amusement would be Bandai Namco, after initial investment, the corporation set up an offshoot of its amusement GM operation, to specialize in VR development called “Project-i-Can”. The group would go on to create several formative VR entertainments that were fusions of popular amusement genres married to VR hardware based on the HTC Vive. The experiences would be placed in their own unique location-based venue named VR ZONE, with several sites, including a flagship location opened. VR ZONE Portals would offer pop-up opportunities for players outside of Japan to experience the delights. And Bandai Namco would even partner with Nintendo to create a VR interpretation of Mario Kart.
Player on ‘Ski Rodeo’ at a Tokyo VR ZONE
Along with more conventional applications of amusement VR hybrids, Bandai Namco would also broach into the realm of free-roaming VR experiences. The company developed several attractions that looked at PC backpack Arena Scale experiences. But one of the most notable being their partnership with Square-ENIX towards creating a four-player free-roaming attraction based on the popular fantasy title with Dragon Quest VR. An innovative multi-player adaptation, with the deployment of advance haptic feedback game interfaces based on the key roles of the players’ characters.
Players working as a team against the bosses in Dragon Quest VR. Image credit: KWP
This concludes the first part of this two-part feature on the anniversary of HTC’s investment into location-based entertainment. The second part will look at the continuing legacy and reveal some of the plans for the future of this vital entertainment sector.
Investment in Out-of-Home entertainment development continues, and in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams collects the latest investments, partnerships, and acquisition news, shaping the landscape of the location-based immersive entertainment business.
The recent movements in investment being made into location-based entertainment (LBE) developers and operators cannot be ignored. Even if most Western venues are in lockdown currently, numerous institutions and investors are banking on the post-COVID #Springback hitting the social entertainment market as the pent-up need for fun hits the streets. Many investors positioning themselves to capture this expected windfall.
The SPREE Arena in operation. Image credit: KWP
One such development was German developer SPREE Interactive, VRFocus recently reporting the successful securing of a multimillion-euro investment from strategic investors. Along with announcing that they had launched a V2 of their ‘SPREE Arena’ using the Valve Lighthouse tracking platform for easier operation and pricing. All this and a far-reaching partnership with Pico Interactive to deploy their ‘Pico Neo 2’ headset (powered by the Qualcomm XR chipset), integrated on the ‘SPREE Arena’ platform.
It is this level of investment on the future of LBE that marks the recent slew of announcements emanating from an industry that only a few months ago, some parties were keen to write off. The investment and development community has seen the need to establish a strong position in the opportunity that the social entertainment business will offer the post-lockdown audience.
Regarding that social entertainment mix trying to be developed, competitive eSports and tournament play are crucial elements, and we are seeing the development of a new cross-over between in-home and out-of-home players. One of the aspects of the SPREE Interactive announcement was their partnership with game developer VR Nerds to release an exclusive version of their smash VR competitive blaster Tower Tag. As previously reported, Tower Tag has been deployed in LBE venues in Japan through a previous affiliation with amusement factory SEGA. Having also been launched as a consumer title, the new SPREE release of the videogame will offer a dedicated eSports element for competition, with a leaderboard shared between the home and venue players.
Other LBE developers have looked at the need for a dedicated cross-over between the home players, and the future facility tournament competitions. VRstudios has revealed its new VRstudio Sports line, with the release of their VR basketball experience Hoops Madness. The eight-player game has been specially developed to offer an intense competition element, that is supported by a dedicated eSports competition component and leaderboard. But the company has also expanded the competition element by supporting an innovative business model that links the consumer to the venue. Consumer VR players hone their skills to try-out at the facility tournaments.
The investment in using standalone headsets as an alternative to the tethered and backpack PC’s continued, with news of a new partnership from Asia entering the Western LBE scene. Vietnamese based Holomia announced the launch of an update to the game MissionX – VR Laser Tag. A frenetic multiplayer VR arena platform offering 3 game modes, such as capture the flag and deathmatch, across a series of unique maps. The system can accommodate up to 10 players, with the developer running 8 headsets in a game at one time as part of their tournament competition.
MissionX – VR Laser Tag. Image credit: Holomia
The developers have the game running on the Oculus Quest 2, with the developer currently using SideQuest to provide a download, offering commercial use license for VR arcades. The use of SideQuest hoping to negate the need to abide by the Oculus for Business restrictions on commercial entertainment usage, of this kind. But in a move to break into the Western market the company is working to release their platform in partnership with SynthesisVR – developers of a VR facility management and content distribution platform.
Speaking of VR arcade content delivery and support, and one of the largest of these operations had an announcement of their own. SpringboardVR, the leading VR venue management and distribution platform currently, serving some 500 venues with over 400 pieces of VR content; revealed that they had been acquired by Vertigo Games, famous for their multi-platform VR development and publishing with VR titles such as Arizona Sunshine.
Vertigo Games was recently acquired themselves by Koch Media GmbH Austria (a subsidiary of Embracer Group AB), and this latest move was part of the operation consolidating its position in the commercial VR entertainment landscape. Recently we reported on the work that the Vertigo Arcade LBE division of the company had achieved with their new game ‘Ghost Patrol’. In acquiring SpringboardVR, they now represent the leading providers of venue content. As well as managing the revenue operation and royalty transaction of these facilities and games.
It was announced that following the acquisition of SpringboardVR, emerging from this move is a brand new operation called ArborXR – developed as content providers to deploy enterprise VR at scale. This follows on from our report from the London education conference, BETT, in 2020 where we reported on development by the team on VR educational content in partnership with HP on their platform.
The investment into commercial (enterprise) development as eagerly attacked by many new start-ups. Where the home entertainment scene seems to be constantly incubating this immersive technology, the need for a more inclusive business model sees growing investment.
We expect to cover in the next part if this report, another series of major acquisitions and partnerships in the coming days.
Out-of-Home entertainment development continues, and in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams reveals the appearance of the Oculus Quest 2 into the commercial entertainment scene. With the launch of a brand new free-roaming platform from Scale-1 Portal, and the deployment of a brand new business model to allow the hardware into the commercial sector.
The continued development of location-based entertainment (LBE) takes place even though most entertainment facilities are temporarily closed due to local restrictions. Some of that development is towards a new generation of arena-scale (or free-roaming) platforms that allow multiple players to be immersive without the issues of wearing a backpack PC.
The use of the new mobileVR (standalone) headsets was seen as a logical opportunity, but there were numerous roadblocks towards this as previously covered in our feature on standalone LBE VR development. But French developer Scale-1 Portal has announced the first system that officially deploys the Oculus Quest 2 into the commercial entertainment market, and offers a brand new business model for operators.
Speaking exclusively regarding their new release, Scale-1 Portal has rolled out the finished VOXEL ARENA, previously covered last year in prototype form in our industry roundup. The first installation of this system was undertaken in Canada during August 2020, and the company now has made available the full system to operators. Now including a unique business model that allows venues to deploy multiple Quest 2 headsets in their facilities.
There are restrictions to use the consumer Oculus Quest 2 hardware for commercial business, blocked by the Terms of Service (ToS). However, the Oculus for Business program has been established for enterprise usage of Oculus hardware. Scale-1 Portal is a member of the Oculus ISV (Independent Software Vendors) Program supporting developers using their systems in enterprise. Through this relationship, they have been able to create a unique business model to deploy this hardware in entertainment.
Entertainment operators can now purchase through the Oculus Business Edition program, multiple Quest 2 headsets that also come with a mandatory yearly maintenance and support fee. The operator then has access to the Scale-1 PortalCloud version of VOXEL ARENA, the subscription service supports up to six players. Playing one of three unique games available on the platform (including Sep’s Diner, and Guns&Dust), players compete within a 4×5 meter player space.
The ‘VOXEL ARENA’ in operation at the Illucity Paris facility. Image credit Scale-1 Portal
The Business Edition of the Oculus hardware does not need a Facebook login, (a requirement that has been contentious with the consumer VR community). The commercial version having a unique ToS for Enterprise. This release seems to be the only real fruit of the Capability Concept Demonstrator (CCD), that Oculus showed back in 2018 at OC5 that had promised the use of Quest hardware in locations.
The Scale-1 Portal business model is the only legal means for operators to deploy the Quest 2 hardware in their facilities and avoid action. It will be interesting to see how many operators jump at the opportunity to have a cost-effective solution to running free-roaming VR., and what other VR standalone systems follow suit.
Scale-1 Portal has also made use of their time towards looking at pivoting into the consumer VR scene. The company will be launching a home version of their LBE videogames. Announcing that the title Sep’s Diner has been released last December on SteamVR and SideQuest for gamers at home, with a multiplayer version emulating some of the features of the LBE version planned to be added. The company revealed that they will be supporting other standalone VR headsets, such as the Pico Neo series, with this consumer release.
We look forward to running a full review of the VOXEL ARENA LBE experience when the first of the facilities reopen in the coming months.
The second and final part of his report observing the current immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus. In his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams concludes his overview of the Free-Roaming VR sector in LBE, and looks at the key developments, and the next phase of investment as the market re-emerges.
Continuing the coverage of the impact that free-roaming out-of-home entertainment is having on the re-emerging market, we see that major IP and a continuation of business are driving the sector. While many tried to paint the post-COVID LBE VR market as doomed – the reality is that the market has started to re-emerge from lockdown and are seeing a return of their audience, while the operators that have survived the loss of business now look to the investment towards the next phase of establishing their prospects.
Battle arena – Image credit: KWP
The Re-emergence of the Free-Roam Business
Establishing a full suite of VR entertainment experiences for the various needs of the entertainment venue business has been a constant challenge for many corporations. One of those that has established an important place in the market is VRstudios. Along with the company’s enclosure and free-standing VR platforms (‘ATOM’), they have also defined backpack VR arena experiences with their ‘FLEX’ VR game arena platform. Supporting from four to eight players in either small 25’x25’ to big 40’x40’ arenas, using their Attraction Management Platform (AMP) to integrate the hardware support working with the HTC Vive headset and HP backpacks.
The company before the pandemic had installed the first ‘FLEX Arena’ system in partnership with entertainment chain Dave & Buster’s demonstrating the value of adding a new attraction and revenue source to otherwise underutilized space. This level of flexibility opening the opportunity to venues of all scale to include a free-roaming arena in their offering. As with all their range, ‘FLEX’ is supported by the company’s overarching Attraction Management Platform (AMP) that handles content and operation of their systems – and also supports the VR sports competitive element of their platform, bringing an eSports capability to the ‘ATOM’ and ‘FLEX’, and free-roaming experiences, in general.
Nomadic VR – the company had initially wanted to develop their own videogame content, but after an initial process, reverted to a partnership to license a version of the popular zombie shooter from Vertigo Arcade (‘Arizona Sunshine: Contagion Z’). But soon the reality of what they offered impacted the plans of the operation. Long before the pandemic, Nomadic had closed its Orlando flagship venue (only open some eleven months) and plans for Las Vegas and Los Angeles sites were shelved. But the company has built on the valuable lessons it has learned from operating in the sector and during 2019 partnered on a major installation creating a pay-to-play LBE VR experience, Vader Immortal: Lightsaber Dojo, based on the consumer VR experience (Star Wars Lightsaber Dojo). In September it was announced that following this initial test, Nomadic and ILMxLabs would be partnering to make Lightsaber Dojo more efficient for family entertainment centres and arcades to operate in a tethered upright amusement version.
Backlight – known for their innovative VR escape game and arena-scale attraction has not been dormant during the lockdown period and are part of the new opening news. The Las Vegas-based AREA15 venue labelled as a 200,000-sq.,ft., “experiential art, retail and entertainment complex”, will be the flagship location for a brand new platform from Backlight – a 6,000sq.,ft., space that will have two groups of six play. The ‘OZ Experience’, pop-up LBE VR installation that will utilize backpack PC’s and offer a compelling attraction to support the eclectic mix of partners for this experimental entertainment venue. But Backlight has also been working on other projects launching this year based on their VR escape gaming and new innovative experience platforms. The company looking at rolling out their new innovative platform for wider deployment, most recently for their groundbreaking free-roaming experience Toyland: Crazy Monkey – combining a unique D-BOX motion seat system, married into the free-roaming experience, players take on hordes of toy enemies as they are shrunk into toyland.
The motion seat part of the unique Toyland experience. Image credit: YMAGIS
While others are re-assessing their LBE VR aspirations, other new incumbents are entering the water and applying much of the lessons learned from theme park style attraction presentation. One of the veteran attraction manufacturers isMack Ride (part of Mark International) and they have over recent years established a media-based interest. Launched in September YULLBE – Full Body Tracking Free-Roaming VR Experience, developed by new division MackNeXT in cooperation with VR Coaster and Mack Rides. Working in calibration with motion tracking specialists Vicon, the YULLBE attraction offers two unique arena-scale experiences which can accommodate up to 32 users – what could be called an “Attraction-scale Platform.” The first being a fully tracked, backpack PC experience presented through the Pimax 4K VR headsets (customised for the attraction). But this is not a one-off installation, YULLBE is part of a roll-out of a chain of LBE VR centres across Europe.
YULLBE players don Pimax and PC backs. Image credit: MackNeXT
The European developer DIVR Labs has proven to be a strong developer of free-roaming VR experiences, most notable for their installation at the Hamleys Toy Store in Prague in the Czech Republic. The operation reconfigured the basement of the toy store to turn it into the Golem VR attraction. An arena-scale immersive experience that was based on the 15th Century Prague folk law, where Rabbi Löw created a creature known as a Golem. The attraction employing backpack PC’s, Oculus Rift CV1 headsets and the use of Ultraleap hand tracking – players in groups of four traversing the virtually created cityscape, the environment employing physical as well as virtual effects with great results.
Building on this success and the DIVR team started to roll out several experiences at new locations but were impacted by the lockdown of business with the global situation. Now re-emerging from this lockdown and the company reveals its first new installations at the Premium Outlet Prague Airport called Meet the Dinosaurs. The free-roaming time-travelling dinosaur experience transporting groups of four players back 80 million years, in an area of 150 square meters (players using backpack PC’s and HP Reverb headsets). Quickly following on from this, and the third DIVR location opened in the UAE.
One of the European developers that has grown a strong following in the LBE VR, is Swiss-based TrueVRSystems. Having been one of the first to develop an effective free-roaming platform incorporating multi-player and physical effect immersion – the operation has gone on to license its platform across numerous sites. During last year, the company announced plans to expand the level of capacity of their virtual worlds, accommodating 10-player simulations. This was the fifth VR arena-scale experience created by the company, supporting the OptiTrack system, and running on Oculus Rift CV1 headsets – with the use of the StrikerVR weapon system. At the time leading up to lockdown, the operation had content licensed across some 13 venues, with plans for new US and EU venues.
A crowded landscape of free-roaming developers and one of the early developers is VEX Solutions – with a suite of different VR applications, the company has their VEX Adventure turnkey platform, offering 6m x 6m virtual arena for players for up to four PC backpack wearing players, using HTC Vive headsets, including the use of haptic vests. The VEX platform offers physical effects (heat, olfactory and vibration) within the arena to enhance the virtual experience – offering some six available games, on average offering 40-minutes of play from developers such as ECLIPSE and Backlight Studios.
Another backpack PC VR arena developer and operator is MASSVR – the company had established in Chicago their unique interpretation of the multiple player experience. Long before Fortnite was a thing, the company had installed an 8,000 square feet VR arena in a converted department store floor plan. This Westfield, Skokie location would be joined by a dedicated facility in Bloomington, IL – offering one of the largest mass playing experiences with some 16-players simultaneously. The game experiences are PvP style with teams battling through environments to capture the flag – but in a unique immersive element, the games incorporate virtual jetpacks and zip-lines, as well as an assortment of weaponry. The company with its emergence from lockdown announced the addition of its VR Champions high-action active game experience with a group of eight players in a “head-to-head” competition.
Players ready for the MASSVR experience. Image credit: MASSVR
One of the start-ups that gained some coverage was BiggerInside – the company showed a free-roaming concept back in 2019 at the IAAPA Europe event and went on to roll out their concept called Protocol 223. It uses the Microsoft MR tracking system, with HP Reverb headset and HP-Z-VR backpack PC – the system had the additional element of full body and hand tracking through extensive “eXosuit” fully body tracking, favouring a softer style of play away from players brandishing weapons. The four-player game arena also included physical maze wall elements to marry the physical and virtual worlds together and created a unique PvP style of experience.
The VR arcade scene has striven to broaden its appeal, looking for the latest innovation to keep relevant. The ability to offer a turn-key arena-scale offering to the widest audience has seen the free-roaming genre added to the libraries of content providers. One of the established facility management and content providers to hundreds of VR arcades is Synthesis VR, and in August the company partnered with Secret Location, to launch a free-roaming, multiplayer version of their previous popular content, releasing Blasters of the Universe: Infinity Forever. This attraction takes the original wave-based shooter and brings it to the world of arena-scale.
As previously reported other developers have started to offer free-roaming plug and play solutions for operators wanting to add this level of entertainment to their facility. As we covered in the first of our venue visits after lockdown, the escape room scene has embraced VR – and we had seen that Vertigo Arcades, along with an arena-scale version of their popular Arizona Sunshine, had released the brand new title Ghost Patrol VR, also for four players and also as a simple turn-key VR arcade addition. Vertigo Arcades had worked closely with Nomadic on a unique version of their popular title, creating Arizona Sunshine: Contagion Z as an exclusive version only for their LBE venues. Charting the major movements in the LBE sector of late, and just as we went to the wire news came from the Dutch game’s parent. It was announced that Vertigo Games Holding had had 100-per-cent of their shares acquired by Koch Media GmbH Austria – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Embracer Group AB, (more commonly known as THQ Nordic), for $59.3m.
Other major developments continue to underpin the more positive nature of this sphere of immersive tech following the upheaval. SPREE Interactive – despite COVID-19, major venue openings have been taking place. In August SPREE Interactive in partnership with Pixomondo (Hollywood FX house) and broadcaster giant ProSieben launched Mission to Mars attraction at Forum Schwanthalerhöhe, Germany. An example of a pop-up retail unit installation for an immersive 10-player free-roaming VR experience. ProSieben’s popular Galileo television program is recreated immersively with a 15-minute VR experience, having guests take on an adventure to investigate humanity’s possible survival on the red planet. The attraction employing Pico standalone VR headsets and SPREE’s unique architecture that alleviated the need for backpack PC’s. Opened in August as the European LBE VR scene re-emerged from lockdown, an extremely popular attraction with audiences seeing over 60-per-cent capacity which has led the mall owner HBB to expend the attraction until the end of November.
Players get ready to visit the Red Planet. Image credit: SPREE Interactive
Hyperverse – had heavily promoted their interpretation of what was needed, with their “full-immersion free-roam VR park” concept. The company had achieved initial success with installations as part of existing entertainment venues in Moscow, Chelyabinsk, New York, and Samara, the operation had initially raised some $1.5m in investment. Their hopes of being a turn-key solution was difficult as the water became crowded with more start-ups entering the free-roaming arena. Offering three free-roaming experience for between two and six players over 25-minutes, at venues such as Moscow’s ArenaScape.
While most arena-scale investment has been for LBE VR as seen in these reports, there are new applications for free-roaming experiences being developed for the arts. It was revealed recently that in London, The Royal Opera House (ROH) has been developing the first “hyper-reality opera” in partnership with Figment Productions (known for their work in theme parks and attractions). The free-roaming VR experience will place the user in the heart of an original operatic, artistic creation (inspired by the freeing of Ariel from The Tempest). The arena-scale application incorporating 4D effects married to the immersive experience, is called Current, Rising. It is scheduled to open later this year in the Linbury Theatre, part of the Opera House in Covent Garden, London. In what has been described as “historic stagecraft and cutting-edge technology”.
The Road Ahead
One of the key aspects of the latest phase of development in LBE VR has been the adoption of free-roaming applications. What industry specialist KWP has dubbed “Phase Five” of the latest adoption of VR into the commercial entertainment landscape, where vast cumbersome and technologically complicated free-roam arenas were deployed. In many cases employing camera-based mapping and tracking of objects in a complicated ballet usually referred to as SLAM (Simultaneous Localization Mapping). With advancements in technology and the simplification of the process the ability to track multiple users within an arena has been achieved, and the cost reductions are being applied towards creating cost-effective solutions.
The new generation of FAM (Flexible Arena Mapping) platforms will drive the investment in more free-roaming installations. No matter the consumer VR scene hopes to encroach on the experiences achievable with free-roaming, such as with “Co-Location” – the unique entertainment offering from this installation in a commercial setting, is still highly compelling, and unbeatable.
In the first of a two-part report observing the current immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, Kevin Williams‘ latest Virtual Arena looks at the re-emergence of LBE though the popular free-roaming entertainment trend. Evaluating the pitfalls, and the early fallers, and those operations that have re-opened and hope to define the next phase of business.
While some pontificate that location-based VR has probably taken a terminal hit from COVID – at the same time we have reports on the reopening of venues in Asia and Europe and even America, and see the return of the audience, though in tentative numbers. One aspect of the successful growth of LBE VR before the ravishes of the global health crisis closed all forms of social interaction and entertainment, was the growth in interest of “Arena-Scale”, also dubbed “Free-Roaming” or in Asia “Walking Attractions”. Players donning powerful backpack PC’s and taking part in multi-player immersive experiences. The compelling nature of these experiences were such that major venture capitalists had vied to invest considerable sums in the early developers of this genre of immersive entertainment.
But even before the global-pandemic suspended business, cracks in the business proposition of some arena-scale operations had started to manifest. Gradually exiting lockdown and the issues that impacted some business plans has been magnified, and we start to see the damage inflicted by a loss of revenue. While some of these immersive operations are facing more permanent closures, others are seeing renewed interest in their offering and a new arms race to dominate what is still seen as a lucrative opportunity.
The “Next Gen” virtual playing Arena: Image credit: Bandai Namco
The Landscape Ahead
Seen as one of the first exponents of the concept of immersive, free-roaming experience – The VOID tantalized the investment and operations community with a dream of transporting groups of players into a magical virtual environment, (what the company labelled “Hyper-Reality”), powered by their claimed unique “redirected walking”, with physical effects and props. Seen as one of the prominent representations of the growth in interest in free-roaming immersive experiences – the company had high profile investment, initially from the Disney’s Accelerator fund, including business mentorship that saw development resource through ILMxLab.
The VOID has been heavily dependent on the development resources of ILMxLab for most of their content, with only Ghostbusters, and horror-experience Nicodemus developed internally (in partnership with Ninja Theory), receiving mixed reviews. It was however the draw of the big IP and crafted VR experiences based on blockbuster movies that drew the attention. Much of their hyped original design hardware would have to be scaled back to reverting to off the shelf hardware, such as their tracking system from OptiTrack or their headset, in reality, being made with components from an Oculus CV1 unit, eventually under license, (after a planned in house design was abandoned). The company at its hight operating some 17 facilities offering a selection of Walt Disney movie IP VR experiences. But the sites opened seemed to offer conflicting information on their actual success, and cracks started to appear.
The company had seen a churn in management, with the revolving door of top executives. Also, behind the scenes the operation had been haemorrhaging finances, plans for a permanent London site was abandoned near completion, and a total restructuring of the operation. Deals were signed with the shopping sector to place a new model of the attraction that was hoped to address the difficulties of audience retention. Things, however, had not gone as planned for The VOID operation, with numerous major executive departures and claimed venue expansion abandoned. Sources suggested that investments were being stretched and revenues were not proving as expected. By this time, the full impact of the global health crisis by March 2020, and all 17 VOID facilities had been at the time temporarily shuttered. But then things started to take a new turn, sources revealed information that one and then a second The VOID facilities on Walt Disney property had posted notices announcing their permanent closure and that all assets associated with Walt Disney were to be removed.
The shut-down order posted on The VOID Disney locations doors. Image credit: WDW
An incredible silence has enveloped an operation that was once so prolific at promotion – while the US venues remained closed, with no information at this time on what the situation of their reopening will be, with only the Malaysia (Genting) venues had reopened for business since August. The VOID Malaysia site had removed all their Disney themed experiences only offering ‘Nicodemus’ and ‘Ghostbusters: Dimension’. And that was all the information that could be garnered at this time. Many will try and paint this as a bigger problem with the free-roaming VR sector, there seems to be a pattern emerging from the initial operators that expensive IP and a problematic business model has been accentuated by the financial impact of the COVID Lockdown.
There is another recent recipient of investment and mentorship from the Disney Accelerator fund that is based in the arena-scale VR sector. Japanese start-up Tyffon has opened their own Tyffonium – Magical-Reality Theater – a backpack VR experience centre. While less well-known than the other Disney Accelerator investment in VR attractions, the operation had developed internally three attractions which they operated in their two Japanese venues. Much more aimed at a theatrical, sensory experience, looking at young couples as a key demographic, offering three game experiences that support up to four VR players for 30-minute durations. The operation would go on to raise their Series A round of funding – added to the previous investment this saw the company valued at $12 million by the end of that year. With this investment, the operation had received publicity towards a plan to open in the US. By March of this year, the Japanese operation had entered lockdown, with plans for the US operation still on the drawing board, and their 35 employees furloughed, though the facilities did reopen by October.
The unique couples focused VR game experience from Tyffon. Image credit: Tyffon
Another of the early pioneers, wanting to carve out an empire for themselves was Dreamscape Immersive. Described as a “Virtual Reality Experience Like No Other”, the company took on a movie theatre style of approach to offering their unique platform – having amassed an impressive cadre of investment from powerhouses from the movie industry. Investors also included AMC and IMAX – cinema legends looking at the concept of LBE VR, to address flagging movie ticket revenue. Along with an impressive lobby presenting the VR experiences on offer like movies – the guests in groups of six would enter donning rooms, putting on their PC backpacks and wearing foot and hand tracking devices based on the Vicon system. Then once inside the VR room, would put on their headset (originally the Oculus Rift CV1, but later the company would migrate over to theHP Reverb platform) – the environment offering physical effects within the space that mirrored the high-quality virtual experience rendered for the players.
Dreamscapes’ facility operation had opened first in Los Angeles, as part of the Westfield Century City shopping mall in the shadow of an AMCtheatre, in Dallas and Columbus, and then venturing to Dubai. This UAE-based location reopened in July and has seen strong returning audiences – proving the health of LBE VR post-COVID lockdown. October will see the US chain of stores also reopening. But following the upheaval in business following the health crisis the corporation revealed the acceleration of plans for a brand new initiative. Dreamscape Immersive, partnered with Arizona State University (ASU), to launch ‘Dreamscape Learn’. The concept is for “Immersive Education” avatar-driven VR experiences being offered to both campus-based and online courses; planning to start with introductory biology and eventually expanding throughout the sciences and beyond, (vetted by top professors and learning scientists). The plan will utilize the immersive VR story lead experience of the VR company married to the educational platform for students and explorers to create a unique learning environment (immense VR “laboratory”) which will see virtual pods created to traverse students around virtual environments.
A capture of the ‘Dreamscape Learn’ immersive VR laboratory. Image credit: Dreamscape
Numerous developers of arena-scale platforms had already started the process of redressing their business model to embrace new verticals. One of the front-runners in the development of IP based arena-scale VR experiences was the new operation SPACES. The company retained a wealth of experience having been spun out of DreamWorks Animation back in 2016. The corporation saw investment from Tencent and other leading players launched its first arena-scale platform with Terminator Salvation: Fight for the Future, opening the first permanent location in San Jose and then a temporary installation in partnership with Cinemark. Also, SPACES had signed agreements with SEGA JOYPOLIS to install its VR experience at their Japanese sites. The operation was in the process of redefining their offering following feedback as the global crisis hit, but its innovation continued, and pivoted during lockdown to create a ground-breaking VR based video conferencing product. The interest in this product was such that SPACES announced in August that the company had been acquired by tech-giant Apple, for an undisclosed sum.
Sandbox VR had been a prominent name in the LBE VR business, coming from a meteoric rise supported by the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, and raising some $68m and $11m round of investment. With this investment, the operation focused on both improving the level of experience on offer, signing a licensing agreement to use major IP, such as releasing an experience based on ‘Star Trek: Discovery’. In total some 8 venues, split between Asian sites and their first few US locations, offering four-player backpack PC VR, using Oculus Rift CV1 headsets. But following the lockdown, Sandbox VR (Glostation USA Inc.) filed for Chapter 11 protection in August, this was on top of the previous announcement of the loss of their original CEO and 80-per-cent of their workforce. It was revealed that the company had started to reopen its venues, promoting new safety measures to ensure guests and staff post lockdown. The restructured management evaluating a plan of survival with the VR centre (single attraction) model.
Players beaming into Sandbox VR’s Star Trek: Discovery adventure. Image credit: Sandbox VR
While not getting the same publicity as other arena-scale installations in the West, one of the first VR ZONE free-roaming offerings developed by Bandai Namco and being shuttered at MAZARIA is Dragon Quest VR. Developed for the original VR ZONE brand back in 2018 the videogame is based on the popular RPG property, with four-player PC backpacks (HTC Vive headset) – it’s one of the few arena scale installations that use wholly unique player interfaces representing the shields, and swords of the game. This was not the only Arena Scale VR attraction Bandai Namco developed – with a Ghost In The Shell property, (‘Ghost In The Shell: Arise Stealth Hounds’) back in 2017. Going on from the closure of their MAZARIA facility, the corporation is reappraising its approach to VR and immersive entertainment, with new plans to be revealed soon that could see new free-roaming properties.
Players working as a team against the bosses in Dragon Quest VR. Image credit: KWP
Other Japanese amusement factories that operate their own venues in the territory have been attempting to jump onto the arena scale bandwagon. CAPCOM with its PLAZA CAPCOM chain of sites has added the CAPCOM VR-X areas to their landscape, and with that created a unique arena-scale VR experience based off corporation owned IP. Biohazard: Valiant Raid (better known in the West as Resident Evil) launched last year, the four-player experiences negates the use of cumbersome backpack PC’s for a restricted player space using tethered HTC Vive headsets and customized controllers.
One of the largest of the Japanese amusement and gaming corporations is SEGA, and they have invested heavily into VR attractions for their facility business. Under the SEGA Joypolis VR chain, operated through CA SEGA JOYPOLIS (the co-Chinese and Japanese partnership), the company has deployed several third-party VR attractions. At this time SEGA’s amusement GM division has not created a unique VR platform of their own, favouring in representing other developers’ products as they evaluate the opportunities provided by this technology. The Asian market has seen the adoption of the term “Walking Attraction” when describing arena-scale VR experiences, the PC backpack offering freedom over tethered enclosures. Such operating systems include Mortal Blitz for Walking Attraction, developed by Skonec Entertainment. SEGA had also fielded the system from SPACES (as mentioned above), and later the Zero Latency free-roam experience in several Joypolis sites.
Zero Latency is one of the earliest to see the opportunity and unique compelling nature of free-roam VR entertainment. The company deploying their first facility in 2014, and then went on to establish and defined their unique up to eight-player immersive arena experiences, amassing a considerable library of seven popular games. Emerging from the global lockdown, the company has continued to plough a course in this sector. Developing their own backpack harnesses, haptic game controllers, along with the needs for appropriate briefing, loading, and unloading of players, staff training, all packaged in a franchisee offering operations have added to their entertainment venues. The company announced a major partnership to bring AAA content to their platform, Ubisoft – creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services revealed that it would be bringing its million-selling consumer game license to VR with Far Cry VR: Dive into Insanity. This LBE VR experience for up to eight players takes them back to Rook Islands, the setting of‘Far Cry 3 for some intense action. Working in partnership to develop and implement their multi-player combative experience with Zero Latency, the game will be released across their 45 venues in 22 countries during 2021.
Image credit: KWP
This concludes the first part of this extensive coverage; we will now look at the rest of the sector and the new entrants bouncing back into business after lockdown in the following coverage.
