Arizona Sunshine developer and A Fisherman’s Tale publisher Vertigo Games has acquired VR arcade software company, SpringboardVR.
Neither group disclosed the value of the sale. For the past few years, SpringboardVR operated a subscription-based management platform for VR arcades with software that allows users to choose from a range of officially licsensed titles. As they play, arcade owners are able to set how long the customer can use the platform among other aspects. Springboard charged $30 a month for use of its platform, with discounts available for multiple stations within an arcade.
A press release confirms that this service will continue to run under Vertigo’s ownership, with several of the team members joining the company. Vertigo itself has its own arcade business under which it’s distributed an arcade version of Arizona Sunshine and unique games like Corsair’s Curse and Ghost Patrol VR, which was announced last year.
But the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced major challenges for the VR arcade industry, with most locations having remained closed for the better part of a year now. Vertigo — which itself was acquired by Koch Media in 2020 — has continued to support the sector, even offering relief packages over the course of the last year. Even with vaccines now rolling out across the world, it remains to be seen when it will be safe for VR arcades to fully reopen.
Other founders of SpringboardVR are moving on to start a new company, ArborXR, which offers software to streamline VR and AR enterprise use cases.
When do you think VR arcades might return? Let us know in the comments below!
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.
Covering the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams, starts the first of his visits to re-opening VR and Immersive entertainment venues – with exclusive access to a brand new videogame from Vertigo Arcades. In these features reporting on the latest experiences, and the new conditions that the international LBE business is adapting to.
After over 100-days during the COVID-19 lockdown period and the VR amusement and attraction market starts to tentatively reopen for business. In what will become a regular series, KWP has been invited to attend many of the planned international commencements of these businesses. But like many of the coming coverage, this first report is more a review of a brand-new release in the LBE VR scene than just a site visit.
Revealed last month, Netherlands-based Vertigo Arcades – the location-based entertainment arm of Vertigo Games – announced the launch of its new free-roaming (Arena Scale) game experience Ghost Patrol VR. This is the third arena scale title from the company – famous for cross-platform success with Arizona Sunshine and its new Corsair’s Curse title. Vertigo was one of the first to see the potential of LBE VR business, promoting game properties. Ghost Patrol VR is a new direction and marks the representation of third-party developed content, working in cooperation with Crazy Bunch, the German developer behind this great experience.
Based on Vertigo Arcades’ ‘HAZE’ software platform for facilities operating Arena Scale VR attractions, the system handles the loading and operation of the four-player games. Compared to the older-player based zombie-blasting content, Ghost Patrol VR has been created to offer a great family experience, aimed at players between 12-15-years of age and older. After booking their session and naming their character, the players don the VR hardware and are transported to a haunted mansion, navigating the rooms, corridors, and haunted elevators, working as a team to blast the spooky opponents and collect gemstones in a haunted wave shooter extravaganza.
From the start Ghost Patrol VR offers a great playing environment, with the HTC Vive Pro and controllers, and a PC backpack computer, the player is prepared for action. The game uses both controllers, with one used for their “Hue Blaster” and the other for their flashlight. Moving around the rooms, the players are accosted with flying furniture and then hoards of Pink or Blue ghosts – the players must match the colour of their Hue Blaster to the corresponding apparitions. During the 20-minute experience, players navigate the floors of the building, using elevators, secret passages, and portals – the game culminating in a satisfying boss battle.
Of the considerable number of Arena Scale VR experiences, we have evaluated, this was a well-polished and highly enjoyable videogame, and even in this final release version the companies are continuing to tweak the experience. The game giving off Nintendo Luigi’s Mansion vibes but still being able to be its own unique experience, with a fun and colorful cartoon graphical style.
The team behind the game were kind enough to video conference with us to give some detail regarding the launch of this new product. Vertigo Games’ CEO Richard Stitselaar and Producer Paul van der Meer revealing that they have licensed their platform at some 700 venues across 40 countries. And are working with operators as they come back on stream to license this latest game. For this chance to try the brand-new experience, the Escape Room and VR game operator Wing Entertainment were kind hosts at their Omescape London Aldgate venue. They had the latest installation of the Vertigo Arcades setup, offering a selection of all its titles and having just upgraded to include Ghost Patrol VR to their library.
The Escape Room’s at the Omescape venue will be remaining closed under the current level of advisory, but the VR element of the site is now opening to take private parties and hires, able to accommodate current COVID measures to their operation of the immersive entertainment. This VR element, a vital addition to many Escape Room operations is a lifesaver in being able to continue business.
We would like to thank the team at Omescape for the chance to be the first to experience the fun of the new arena scale game, and for the Vertigo Arcades team for video conferencing with us and walking us through the development process. We will look forward to reporting more on the next new releases on the platform coming this year.
Reception at the Omescape venue, showing their other VR experiences on offer. Image credit KWP
Of the other venues coming back on stream, and one such re-opening was held at Universe Science Park, in Denmark, a visitor attraction site, and the location of the “World First” ParadropVR attraction, installed back in 2018. Now with the lifting of COVID measures, the visitor attraction has reopened the building where ParadropVR is situated – developed by UK-based Frontgrid. The attraction offers riders the chance to virtually soar over the landscape, controlling their own paraglider through the virtual landscape with exhilarating speed whilst playing a game; riders scores are then ranked on a mobile app leaderboard.
The ParadropVR system employs a unique rise and surge motion platform, lifting the player physically, and so totally immersing them in the experience. The Universal Science Park team have limited the number of riders to accumulate in the attraction building, and are employing best practise hygiene procedure regarding operating the VR system, but confirm that the interest to ride the experience has not diminished from the guests to the venue.
This ends the first part of our coverage, with the next facility report, and other new developments, coming in a few days from European VR venues coming back to life. See you soon.
The location-based entertainment (LBE) industry has suffered during the coronavirus lockdown but that hasn’t stopped companies preparing for when these measures ease up. This week Developer CrazyBunch and publisher Vertigo Arcades have announced a new arcade title set to begin rolling out to arcades this month, Ghost Patrol VR.
Like a lot of specialised VR arcade experiences Ghost Patrol VR provides team-based gameplay for a colourful yet spooky adventure. Players have to make their way through a haunted mansion where the hallways move and so does the furniture.
Armed with Hue Blasters, players can detect the ghosts with a torch then blast them with the gun, making sure the colour of the ghost matches the gun. The action element will be complimented by puzzle sections where players will have to move hallways and activate platforms by charging mysterious orbs.
Supporting teams of four, they’ll have to work together defeating the giant Ghost King to complete the 20 minute experience. There’s also a competitive edge as high scores will be awarded at the end, noting how many ghosts each player shot.
Ghost Patrol VR will be made available to VR arcades worldwide from 30th June as more locations begin to reopen. Vertigo Arcades launched a relief initiative to help those businesses by offering extended payment terms, license extensions and other forms of aid to partner arcades.
The company’s outlook for the LBE industry remains positive: “We are ready to help boost back up this industry full of creativity and innovation with the right collaboration and support,” says Mário Gonçalves, Account Manager at Vertigo Arcades in a statement.
As for parent company Vertigo Games, the publisher announced this week that Traffic Jams would be coming to multiple headsets including PlayStation VR, Oculus Quest and PC VR in September 2020.
For further updates on the LBE VR industry, keep reading VRFocus.
Vertigo Arcades, a subsidiary of Arizona Sunshine and After The Fall developer Vertigo Games, this week announced a relief initiative for VR arcade venues featuring its content in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
As countries fight to contain the spread of COVID-19, including bans on mass gatherings, VR arcades face uncertainty. Vertigo Arcades’ packages will offer benefits like extended payment terms and license extensions along with other options depending of the type of content licensed. Vertigo Arcades customers can fill out a form here to get the ball rolling.
“LBE VR venues are our first line of offense for the evangelization of VR – our ambassadors,” the company stated in a press release. “We are ready and willing to work with LBE VR customers to offer emergency relief packages to ensure the health and continuity of their businesses in these exceptional times.”
Vertigo Arcades hosts a range of arcade content, including original content like Arizona Sunshine – LBVR Edition and The Corsair’s Curse as well as titles from partners such as Space Pirate Trainer and Island 359.
The news follows our report yesterday tracking the status of several popular VR arcades in the US. Two Bit Circus has closed its Los Angeles location for the remainder of the month. Dreamscape, meanwhile is closing its Westfield Century City location on a temporary basis. The Void, meanwhile, is yet to close down any locations.
Outside of the arcade industry, the spread of the virus has delayed production of headsets like Oculus Quest and the Valve Index.
In January Innerspace VR in partnership with Vertigo Games launched its surreal virtual reality (VR) title A Fisherman’s Tale. Now they’ve announced their latest project, Corsair’s Curse. But rather than a videogame for home users, this is designed for the growing location-based entertainment (LBE) industry.
Corsair’s Curse is loosely based on A Fisherman’s Tale, offering a free-roam multiplayer adventure for the whole family. Supporting between two to four players, they’ll find themselves inside an enchanted galleon, with complete freedom to walk around the virtual location. In the same way, A Fisherman’s Tale play with size, Corsair’s Curse will make players either really big or really small.
Players will need to collaborate across dimensions, utilising their size to maximum advantage to solve the puzzles and escape the vessel with the Corsair’s prized treasure in hand.
“As the virtual gatekeepers of VR, arcades play an invaluable role in converting VR enthusiasts to VR customers,” said Richard Stitselaar, Managing Director at Vertigo Arcades in a statement. “Adding the spectacular Corsair’s Curse to our portfolio brings us another step closer to realizing our vision for making high-end free-roam multiplayer LB VR experiences available to arcades worldwide, arming them with the best that VR currently has to offer to attract customers, whether they are new to VR or own VR headsets at home.”
Corsair’s Curse isn’t just a VR experience. Depending on the location, the title includes optional support for 4D effects such as vibrating floors and wind effects to further improve the immersion.
Vertigo Arcades will be using its LB VR distribution platform for the title, with arcades able to access the experience this Spring, featuring support with a fully localized English and French Game Master console. Corsair’s Curse will be at the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) 2019, being showcased for the first time.
When VRFocusreviewed A Fisherman’s Talewe gave it three stars, finding that: “A Fisherman’s Tale is in many respects the VR title VRFocus hoped it would be, inventive use of the technology that oozes heart and soul, making you care about the character and his astonishing little world. The main downside, it leaves you wanting more when there’s no more to be had.
As VRFocuslearns more about Corsair’s Curse in the run-up to release we’ll let you know.
A Fisherman’s Tale developer Innerspace VR is back with a brand new title. What, already? Well, Corsair’s Curse is likely a little different to what you’re expecting.
Rather than a direct follow-up to its January release, Corsair’s Curse is a VR arcade title. Today, Arizona Sunshine creator Vertigo Games announced that it would be distributing the game through its own arcade platform in spring 2019. Vertigo also published A Fisherman’s Tale at the beginning of the year.
Corsair’s Curse is designed for two to four players. Participants can physically walk around a large open area as they work together in VR. It features a lot of traditional escape room-style puzzle solving, though it also borrows from A Fisherman’s Tale a little. Some players, for example, will be much bigger than others, requiring new approaches to puzzle solving. You can see the announcement trailer for the experience above.
Vertigo Arcades was launched last year as a means of bringing VR hardware and software to locations around the world. Currently the platform features a content launcher named the VR Arcade Suite. It provides developers with the tools to easily integrate arcade-specific features like new tracking systems and mixed reality functionality into their games. The company also launched a location-based version of Arizona Sunshine through the Arcades division.
Corsair’s Curse, meanwhile, is set to be on show at GDC later this month. We’ll be interested to check it out; A Fisherman’s Tale is one of our favorite VR games of the year so far and its puzzles in particular are something special.
It seems that while consumer virtual reality (VR) sits at a crossroads, the digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) sector has exploded with new developments – not one day seems to pass without major announcements, partnerships or acquisitions hits the wire. Industry specialist Kevin Williams of KWP, gives his unique perspective on the recent developments and offers some exclusive insights into some recently visited new projects.
Following on from the developments that we covered at the first Microsoft LBE VR Summit (read part one and two here), and momentum continues to build in the commercial entertainment sector. These investments are being registered across the industry, and some of the once previous advocates for a consumer approach to this latest phase of VR adoption. This was best illustrated by Unity CEO, John Riccitiello, quoted at a recent TechCrunch Disrupt event, feeling that we have yet seen a true consumer launch of a VR or augmented reality (AR) headset; stating “AR and VR is mostly to this day been launched to developers”. But Riccitiello continued that he had been impressed by how fast enterprise had latched on to VR and AR tech, surprised that the commercial applications have preceded the consumer applications.
Though an obvious progression for those of us that work in the DOE sector, this realisation has struck most consumer-facing VR developers, and most recently we saw the pivoting of major VR success stories in the consumer sphere, build a commercial entertainment offering. This was best illustrated by Vertigo Games, developers behind the successful consumer VR title Arizona Sunshine, with an estimated $1.4 million (USD) in generated sales on the PC platform. The company has decided to spin out a unique location-based videogame division called Vertigo Arcades B.V., who has started in supporting the already popular utilisation of the title in the VR arcade scene, accounting for approximately 20% of all VR arcade minutes played in Western venues.
At the same time other successful developers have turned towards a commercial facing opportunity in this market place. Czech-based Beat Games renowned for their phenomenally successful Beat Saber, have invested heavily in defining their game for the commercial entertainment scene – signing an official licensing agreement with key VR arcade providers such as CTRL-V (Canada), Exit Reality, IMAX VR, MK2 (France), PeriscapeVR, SpringboardVR, Private Label and SynthesisVR. Their partnership with SpringboardVR seeing a ‘Beat Saber Global Tournament’ run across 50 of their supported VR arcades; emphasising an eSports element to commercial entertainment deployment of VR. In an unusual development Beat Games also officially sanctioned an amusement-based VR adaptation of their license. Originally called Beat Saber Arcade, this Korean manufactured cabinet employs the Samsung Odyssey Windows MR headset and controllers; this seen as the first of several amusement-style VR experiences crossing the divide.
Line-up of Beat Saber Arcade cabinets, put through their paces at Korean VR Festival
An amusement facing approach to commercial VR entrainment was seen most recently appearing in the heart of London – at the VR ZONE Portal housed inside the Hollywood Bowl at the O2 Arena on the Greenwich Peninsula. The first VR ZONE Portal outside of Japan (we reported at their opening last year), the site is part of a special agreement between the bowling site operator and the UK division of BANDAI NAMCO Amusement. The site becoming the first Western location to install the eagerly awaited Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, based on the popular Nintendo license.
Enter London’s latest VR experience. [via KWP]
BANDAI NAMCO and Hollywood Bowl organised an exclusive media junket to promote the appearance of the game, but before-hand we were lucky enough to get a behind the scenes look at the system in operation. The Japanese “Project I Can” system only seeing translation of its game software, with the remainder of the hardware the same as operated in Japan. Players’ using HTC Vive headsets, as well as hand trackers to allow them to throw items at their opponents, players sitting in their own “Fusion Karts” motion simulator – the game able to accommodate four players in this seven-minute single circuit race.
Immersed in the action on Mario Kart GP Arcade VR. (Credit: KWP)
Launched in Japan in 2017, the then titled Mario Kart VR proved an enthusiastic VR title, developed by the rebranded BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Lab Inc., as one of a number of IP based VR experiences that combined the initiative behind the “Project I Can” brand and the VR ZONE concept as a whole. Many have mistakenly thought that this game was developed by Nintendo, but in reality, BANDAI NAMCO and Nintendo have established a long reputation of cross-overs and licensed IP – the amusement division in 2005 launching the popular series with Mario Kart Arcade GP, which saw Pac Man also join the Nintendo racers – and with this background it was logical for the VR ZONE to consider developing a VR interpretation of this popular racer.
Past, Meet Future: Mario Kart Arcade GP cabinetsin the shadow of Mario Kart Arcade GP VR. (Credit: KWP)
Trying the title for myself, it proved a hectic mix of racing and throwing items, and though capturing the spirit of the Mario Kart videogame it did not offer as fulfilling a VR interpretation as one might have wanted. A great taste of what is achievable with a VR environment and a world-class property, but not a real game experience that will achieve any level of repeat visitation. The VR ZONE Portal at the O2 has the VR experiences Hospital Escape Terror and Argyle Shift, each costing £8 (GBP) and £5 respectively on launch, but now the restructured layout sees the replacement of the quirky Argyle Shift for Mario Kart Arcade GP VR and all these two games are now £7.99. Many comments on social media, who made a point of hunting down the launch of this iconic VR game property, balked at this high price.
Another interesting element in the handling of this property different to the Japanese approach was Hollywood Bowl having a 15 years of age restriction in playing Mario Kart VR, while in Japan’s VR ZONE operation, the age cut off is 13, with even the VR ZONE Shinjuku seeing children as young as 7 allowed through the doors. No word was given on why BANDAI NAMCO or Hollywood Bowl had picked this arbitrary cut off to play this VR experience. And as with our last visit to the VR ZONE Portal, the UK adaptation of the brand seems a little stilted compared to that achieved in Japan.
Hollywood Bowl has partnered with the UK BANDAI NAMCO Amusement operation and has seen a second VR ZONE Portal opened in Tunbridge Wells, and a planned Leeds Hollywood Bowl site schedule for a third iteration. Sources at BANDAI NAMCO’s VR Projects team confirmed that these sites would be seeing installations of their own Mario Kart VR units by the end of the year respectively – and the company promised that there would be other European and US deployments of the eagerly awaited VR racer. Speaking to the Evening Standard newspaper, Paul Brown, General Manager for HTC Vive Europe, said: “We are so excited to be working with Bandai Namco and Hollywood Bowl to bring Mario Kart VR to the UK, following its stunning launch in Shinjuku.”
The Mario Kart VR installation. (Credit: KWP)
While completing this feature, news broke that BANDAI NAMCO were about to launch yet another VR experience based on previous amusement success – with a re-creation of 1997 white-water rafting experience VR Rapid River – after extensive testing the Amusement Lab team part of the “Project I Can” VR initiative have created a two-rider motion base with yaw and heave components to offer a thrilling white-water rapids ride, with players using tracked ores to steer their craft through a wild water environment. By the time you read this article the first installations of this VR simulator planned for VR ZONES in Japan will possibly be already in venues.
These games developed by the newly reorganised BANDAI NAMCO Amusement Lab Inc., formed to increase investment in intellectual properties (IP) utilising their XR expertise (XR defined as incorporating VR, AR and MR technology). Most recently a VR experience for the VR ZONE flagship location was based on the legendary movie monster, with GODZILLA VR.
But London was not the only UK location to see a brand-new VR attraction unveiled. A quick journey down to the countries South coast and we arrive in Brighton and make our way to the iconic Brighton Palace Pier – the home of a major seaside amusement operation and the first site to run the ParadropVR attraction. The system represents a partnership between creators FrontGrid and manufacturers Simworx releasing a thrilling simulation of soaring the skies on your very own paraglider.
The ParadropVR attraction takes pride of place on Brighton’s Palace Pier. (Credit: KWP)
The attraction uses an innovative vertical heave motion system to simulate the soaring motion, while the player sits in a specially developed harness system while controlling the direction of flight using two lanyards – while wearing an Oculus Rift CV1 to see the virtual vista. The experience was developed to offer an 8-minute experience, as a separate ticket item on the pier. The machine being operated in partnership with local immersive entertainment operator and representative Immersivity Ltd. The experience was a fun one, though the game experience was slightly limited compared to the conventional VR attraction experience we have come to expect.
Reaching for the skies in ParadropVR (Credit: KWP)
FrontGrid recently announced the opening of a second installation, with Denmark’s Universe Science Park opening their first system this month. FrontGrid and Immersivity are now working on refining the platform and deploying the attraction with a number of other interested operators. Europe has seen a spate of VR attractions opening their doors – moving from Denmark to Germany and it was announced that Europa Park had partnered with VR Coaster, Mack Media and Holodeck VR to create a unique VR attraction. The system married a free-roaming experience with a ride-on coaster, with a seamless transition from one to the other. In what the operators referred to as their patent pending ‘Roam & Ride’ setup – the new attraction Eurosat Coastiality has guests putting on headsets and then walking round a pre-show area, before boarding the actual VR rollercoaster ride (employing a mobile VR headset arrangement).
Europa-Park – The first Roam & Ride system to be deployed
The UK has seen one of the first floatation’s on the London Stock Exchange, of a company dedicated to location-based VR entertainment deployment – the Immotion Group PLC has already started a dedicated roll out of venues employing their Immotion branded offering – the company signing a important agreement with UK shopping center operator intu. Following the opening of a new Immotion VR center in Cardiff, the agreement sees a further three sites at intu Derby, Newcastle and Uxbridge. Immotion not just focused on opening venues, but also driving development, seeing AAA content creation for their sites as essential, has recently announced the launch of their wholly developed space-themed VR ride experience Delta Zero.
The company has also worked to ensure a lead in the deployment of the latest VR experiences and announced the extension of their exclusive distribution agreement with leading Chinese manufacturer LEKE VR Technology. A company that has established major advancements in the VR arcade hardware scene, and in 2016 formed a strategic partnership with HTC Corporation towards utilising the latest technology married to VR entertainment for commercial application (at that time for the Viveport Arcades support of the LEKE VR’s VRLe platform). Now with a US sales operation Immotion is seen to be one of the fastest developing companies championing this sector.
(Credit: KWP)
The concluding part of this coverage will follow next week.
Since it was first launched back in 2016, Vertigo Games’ zombie-shooting title Arizona Sunshine has won fans across the world, becoming one of the most popular virtual reality (VR) titles. Now the company is bringing the title to the arcades, and visitors at the Euro Attractions Show (EAS) in Amsterdam will get a first look at the new location-based version.
Location-based VR centres have been growing massively in popularity, with new centres popping up all over the world. Arizona Sunshine – LB VR Edition feeds into this rising demand by offering an untethered, free-roaming multiplayer version of the zombie apocalypse experience.
Players will be able to move freely around a large arena space, enabled by full-body tracking. A wide range of virtual weaponry is available, so players will be able to choose their own custom layout to take out the zombies that infest the landscape.
The location-based version of Arizona Sunshine has been designed for play areas of a minimum 7m x 7m, up to 10m x 10m, though the designers say even larger area may be possible on a case-by-case basis. The experience has been built to run on a turn-key VR set-up that makes installation simple of VR location staff, with support for all VR ecosystems and peripherals.
Arizona Sunshine – LB VR Edition can run on either HTC Vive or HTC Vive Pro with Steam VR tracking, or alternatively, it can be presented on Oculs Rift with OptiTrack tracking.
The Vertigo Games team will be demonstrating the system at the Euro Attractions Show in Amsterdam, an event designed for leisure and attractions industry professionals, where over 11,000 professionals from the amusement industry will be present, including investors, operators and suppliers.
Arizona Sunshine – LB VR Edition will be demonstrated at EAS Booth 7-126, from 25th-27th September, 2018. Further information on EAS can be found on the official IAAPA website.
For future coverage on new and upcoming VR products and services, keep checking back with VRFocus.
Vertigo Games first made its location-based entertainment (LBE) interests known at the start of the year by announcing work on a new version of Arizona Sunshine. Today the company is taking that idea a step further by revealing a brand new company which will focus its efforts purely on LBE content and distribution, Vertigo Arcades.
Vertigo Arcades is a virtual reality (VR) arcade publisher and technology provider aimed at helping VR developers, large-scale VR arcades, and entertainment venues. Via its VR Arcade Suite, a content launcher for free-roaming LBE titles Vertigo Arcades will connect VR developers and VR arcades, whilst supplying an API for integrating a variety of key arcade features like tracking systems, peripherals, spectator and mixed reality functionality.
The platform provides access to Vertigo Games’ Arizona Sunshine and strategy title Skyworld, as well as I-Illusions’ award-winning Space Pirate Trainer, Island 359by CloudGate Studio, and the upcoming A Fisherman’s Tale by Innerspace VR / ARTE France.
“Vertigo Arcades leverages its existing network of developers and physical footprint to grow the out-of-home VR revenue for our partners,” said Managing Director Richard Stitselaar in a statement. “From developer tools to in-arcade marketing and promotions, we’re working to make this market more accessible for consumers, VR arcades, and VR game developers alike. It’s our belief that larger, warehouse-scale experiences of VR games like Arizona Sunshine – LB VR Edition are a key part of expanding consumer interest and increasing the business viability of VR development.”
Developed specifically for large-scale, warehouse, LBE is Vertigo Games’ Arizona Sunshine – LB VR Edition. The untethered experience will launch in August,allowing up to four players to fight their way out of the zombie apocalypse.
Additionally, Vertigo Arcades has entered into a partnership with Nomadic to build a custom LBE VR title based on Arizona Sunshine leveraging Nomadic’s tactile technology to bring the post-apocalyptic world to life at Nomadic locations exclusively starting this fall. For further updates on Vertigo Arcades plans, keep reading VRFocus.
Following on from the developments that we covered at the first Microsoft LBE VR Summit (read part 
