The application of XR into the attraction and amusement landscape is covered by industry specialist Kevin Williams. His latest Virtual Arena column investigates developments as the LBE sector moves toward applying streaming VR technology to drive a high-fidelity experience.
Image credit: Zero Latency
While the establishment of location-based entertainment (LBE) takes hold across the international market. The application of the technology deployed within these facilities is in constant flux. Evolving with the latest developments in the immersive entertainment industry. It is this innovation that makes the market a barometer of the latest trends that could play a part in defining the consumer application of this tech.
One of the biggest trends sweeping LBE has been the deployment of free-roaming experiences, as charted in recent coverage in this column. But technological advances have been made that allow the free-roaming VR experience to be significantly improved and made assessable to a wider audience with a much-reduced cost-benefit (removing cumbersome PC backpacks). A higher fidelity of VR experience moves beyond that achieved using just the mobile processor of current standalone headsets. The developer of these low-latency 5G network applications have been actively reaching out to the LBE community for adoption.
What we mean by streaming VR, is pushing high-fidelity VR directly into the latest headsets. Most of these implementations use a 5G connection between the host PC and a VR headset. This streaming infrastructure also supports updated positional tracking for multiple-player deployment. All this is supported by the latest Qualcomm XR2 standalone headsets, such as the HTC Focus 3, along with the latest systems from Varjo, Pico, and Pimax, focused on commercial application, (as is promised with the Meta Project Cambria, still to be released). This is technology that has been refined for enterprise (SeriousVR) applications such as for training, CAD design, and now commercial entertainment.
The deployment of this approach in entertainment has been gathering momentum. Recently AT&T teamed with Warner Bros., Ericsson, Qualcomm, Dreamscape Immersive, Nvidia and Wevr, to create an ambitious proof-of-concept immersive location-based experience. This was based on the already installed Harry Potter: Chaos at Hogwarts free-roaming VR experience opened at the Harry Potter Wizarding World New York venue. Now using AT&T’s 5G streaming technology, and NVIDIA’s CloudXR, Dreamscape were able to create a prototype version of the experience, at their test facility that removed the need for the cumbersome PC backpacks and streamlined the experience. This development was a proof-of-concept towards being able to offer their high-fidelity VR attraction based on this technology.
The ability for manufacturers in the LBE sector to upgrade towards the latest technology is a benefit of owning the space. Where consumer VR application needs to establish customer penetration, LBE brings the technology to the player, and so upgrades accordingly. This is best illustrated by Zero Latency, a company that has constantly been on an iterative path with its free-roaming attraction. The company announced its move towards ditching PC backpacks and moving to streamed VR but keeping the high-fidelity VR experience. The company deploying a new system streaming over a local Wi-Fi 6E network to players using HTC Focus 3 headsets. This technology has to ensure the high-end performance needed, as seen with their latest free-roam VR adventure, from Ubisoft, set in the world of Far Cry 3.
Image credit: Zero Latency
The growth in VR entertainment facility deployment has seen the providers of the content also adopting a streaming methodology. SynthesisVR, a location-based virtual reality content distribution and facility management platform, recently partnered with QuarkXR, a trusted solution provider focused on VR streaming. Towards offering all LBE VR arcade operators a simple, and automated VR streaming solution, previously not available. A solution for wireless VR game streaming was created specifically for the industry through this exclusive co-developed solution, connecting the host PC and Android VR Headset. This will allow VR arcade operators to benefit from the opportunities of streamed VR applications, and the cost-saving this will bring.
We are seeing many established LBE developers migrate to a streaming VR approach, such as with the announcement of the new ‘Hologate-X’ platform. Developed by market leader Hologate, who has established their tethered VR arena platform across the market. The company staying on the cutting edge of new development have created their own streamed VR platform. To be launched at their flagship Hologate-World location in Germany, the ‘Hologate-X’ attraction running the inhouse developed game ‘SIGVRIED: Escape from Valhalla’, offers streamed low-latency 5G network VR direct to headsets, allowing the four players to simultaneously explore the virtual world unencumbered. For the application, Hologate has added haptic vests, along with feedback from the weapons the players carry. All supported by the 4D effects of the arena space they play within.
SIGVRIED: Escape from Valhalla. Image credit: Hologate
It is this ability to offer such a high-fidelity VR experience, supported by 4D physical effects that separate what is achievable with commercial immersive experiences from the casual consumer experience. Thus showcasing how VR streaming is able to deliver a new level of VR experience to users. We look forward to reporting on further developments in streaming VR soon.
Just a few weeks ago Zero Latency announced some upgrades which include ditching the heavy backpacks and opting for a new system that wirelessly streams content to headsets from on-site PCs. After a demo at the company’s Docklands location in Melbourne, I can see the appeal.
I’ve tried Zero Latency twice before, and while both times were enjoyable, there were limitations with the tracking capabilities and comfort options for each player. It was a good location-based experience but it also wasn’t perfect.
New and existing venues, however, will now move to a new system. The heavy backpack PC and HP Reverb combination is being phased out in favor of a new solution where players are fitted with a standalone headset — a HTC Vive Focus 3 — and a gun peripheral. All of the content is now rendered by on-site PCs streaming wirelessly to each player’s headset. It supports up to eight players per session and uses cutting edge Wi-Fi 6E technology.
Wi-Fi 6E, which uses a higher frequency 6GHz band, is so new that it hasn’t even been approved by most national regulators yet. Australia is one of the first countries to do so, which has allowed Zero Latency to set up its new Docklands venue in Melbourne as the first with the wireless system.
Getting rid of heavy backpack PCs provides a smoother experience for both staff and players, while also significantly cutting down on the pre-session briefing and setup time. During the sessions, players are more free than ever and much less restricted in movement without the backpack and its associated straps and cords. Everything feels much more seamless and accessible.
From a technology perspective, I was worried that the new system might fall victim to unreliability and high latency — two well-known pressure points for wirelessly streaming VR content. However, coming out of a demo last week, I was pleasantly surprised at how smooth and reliable everything was. For the overwhelming majority of my near-45 minute playtime, I experienced little-to-no hiccups in terms of streaming performance — just two very brief freeze frames lasting barely a second. Otherwise, the headset fed me reliable, high-quality visuals that remained steady throughout. The tracking was also noticeably improved and seemed less glitchy than my previous Zero Latency sessions a few years ago.
That being said, it’s still not completely matched to locally-rendered VR on a Quest 2 or a wired PC VR system. Experienced VR users will likely notice a tiny amount of latency, most prominent when physically moving around the play space. It’s more noticeable than Oculus Link, for example, but I didn’t find it detrimental to the experience in any way. Importantly, it was never enough to make me feel uncomfortable or nauseated. Likewise, those with a keen eye might also notice that the image quality is very good, but still compressed for streaming performance — again, a minor nitpick.
It’s unlikely most players would be bothered by — or even notice — these differences and they feel like acceptable trade-offs for the overall improvements in every other area. This was my most comfortable, reliable and enjoyable session at Zero Latency yet, by quite a long shot.
The move to the HTC Vive Focus 3, pictured above, is also a huge upgrade. I found it to be the most comfortable headset offered by Zero Latency yet, while also significantly easier to fit and adjust to my liking. Best of all, there’s an IPD dial on the bottom of the headset, allowing you to easily and precisely adjust the lens distance at any time — a crucial option to avoid nausea and increase comfort.
While the Docklands location in Melbourne is the first to get the new technology, the plan is to roll it out across all new venues and upgrade existing ones as soon as possible. Speaking with Zero Latency CTO Scott Vandonkelaar after my demo, he told me that one of the bigger roll-out hurdles is simply waiting on Wi-Fi 6E certification in other countries.
That being said, once that comes through, the new system should be cheaper and quicker to set up than any other Zero Latency system so far — the setup time for Docklands was just one day, down from several days or even weeks with previous systems.
While the current plan is to continue using on-site PCs for rendering, Vandonkelaar also told me that they’ve experimented with remote cloud rendering in certain areas. That comes with some expected trade-offs — an increase in latency and decrease in bitrate — but Zero Latency says preliminary testing has found those numbers still within an acceptable range. It would likely be decided on a case-by-case basis according to location, but Vandonkelaar says it could become a viable option in the future.
It will be interesting to see how Zero Latency develops its content offerings for this new generation of location-based VR. At Docklands, I tried Zombie Arena, a experience developed in-house, and part of Far Cry VR, brought to Zero Latency in partnership with Ubisoft and developed by nDreams. While the former was still quite enjoyable, it was the latter that was more visually impressive and likely more compelling to casual audiences.
While Vandonkelaarwas remained tight-lipped, he hinted that more content partnerships might already be in the works. Popular properties like Star Wars and Avengers helped draw people to The Void locations pre-pandemic, so we’ll be watching to see if Zero Latency is able to bring a similar level of new content to its locations with this new setup.
Location based VR company Zero Latency is getting rid of the backpacks.
Zero Latency’s existing offering uses a HP Reverb headset connected to heavy backpack PCs worn by each user. The new offering replaces this with a Vive Focus 3 – the content is now streamed wirelessly from non-worn PCs via Wi-Fi 6E.
Vive Focus 3 is HTC’s standalone VR headset, designed for businesses, priced at $1299. Back in November HTC announced a huge software update for Focus 3 focused on location based VR, adding support for multiple headsets sharing the same tracking space (called colocation), and dramatically increasing the maximum tracking boundary to 33×30 meters.
Wi-Fi 6E support was added in a recent Focus 3 update. It’s the new 6 GHz frequency band of Wi-Fi. This higher frequency, compared to the existing 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, allows for higher bandwidth and less interference from other devices – though it can’t travel as far or penetrate walls as well. 6 GHz is so new to Wi-Fi it hasn’t even been approved by most national regulators yet. Zero Latency has locations in 26 countries, so it’s unclear how many will get Focus 3 installed, but the company says this enables full resolution streaming.
Those experiences use the VR controller attached to a custom gun accessory, but Zero Latency says it’s also exploring using Focus 3’s controller-free hand tracking for future experiences.
Zero Latency, one of the longest running VR attractions in the out-of-home VR space, is dropping the backpack PCs that were once the backbone of the platform. Now the company says it’s moving to standalone Vive Focus 3 headsets with wireless delivery of PC-rendered VR content.
Unlike a VR arcade, which lets customers play consumer VR content, Zero Latency is a VR attraction offering totally unique multi-user VR experiences designed to be played in a large, shared arena.
Image courtesy Zero Latency
The company, which offers up its platform and experiences to franchisees, has steadily upgraded its VR tech as the space has developed.
Early on the system relied on a custom backpack PC paired with OSVR HDK 2 headsets and an optical overhead tracking system. Eventually the company moved to purpose-built VR backpacks and first-gen WMR headsets from HP, which allowed it to streamline the system considerably by dropping the overhead tracking in favor of WMR’s inside-out tracking. Later versions of the system moved to the more modern HP Reverb headset.
Now Zero Latency has announced its latest upgrade to the system, which further streamlines the setup by opting for the standalone Vive Focus 3 and streaming PC-rendered content wirelessly to the headsets.
Image courtesy Zero Latency
That means dropping the VR backpacks entirely, which not only reduces the cost of the system, but significantly reduces complexity for both operators and users; operators don’t need to clean, charge, and maintain the backpack units, and it’s one less step during onboarding which means more playtime for users.
And while other standalone headsets like Quest 2 might have been an option, HTC’s Vive Focus 3 has a couple of unique advantages for out-of-home use. Especially its swappable battery which reduces the number of headsets needed on hand as the batteries can be charged independently and swapped on the fly.
On the content side, Zero Latency locations continue to offer the same experiences as before, which span cooperative and competitive multiplayer experiences with up to eight simultaneous players. Though, given the company’s knack for innovation in their in-house content, it’ll be interesting to see if the move to a more simplified system will unlock potential for experiences that wouldn’t quite work with the bulkier setup.
Given today’s announcement, it’ll likely be some time yet before the upgrade rolls out to existing Zero Latency locations, but it seems the company will be offering this upgraded version of the system to new franchisees going forward.
After a very tough year, the location-based entertainment (LBE) is starting to bounce back with new venues and attractions opening up including some major videogame IP’s landing. One of which was Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity, a collaborative effort between Ubisoft, Zero Latency and nDreams. Today, the LBE company has revealed ticket sales have spiked thanks to the videogame as well as announcing a new investor to aid expansion plans.
Image credit: KWP
Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity arrived at Zero Latency locations in June with the company seeing a 40% rise into new customer ticket sales purely down to the new title. Bringing Ubisoft’s popular Far Cry franchise into virtual reality (VR) for the first time, the multiplayer experience takes up to eight players to the Rook Islands, the setting for Far Cry 3. Battling through henchmen with haptic-enabled guns they’ll eventually confront the main villain himself, Vaas.
As for the investment details, the Australian private equity firm Advent Partners has become a partner and majority shareholder in Zero Latency for an undisclosed sum. The company’s founders will remain key shareholders as it continues to expand in the free-roaming (FRVR) industry. Zero Latency will soon have 55 venues open in 24 countries with more planned for 2022.
“Zero Latency VR will remain the global leader in FRVR. This new funding will accelerate our strategy, allowing us to expand aggressively into new markets and increase our support to existing locations,” explained Tim Ruse, Zero Latency VR CEO in a statement. “We welcome our new strategic partner, Advent, whose professionalism, experience in technology and investment, will help us meet our goals.”
“It is the ideal time to get into the location-based VR sector, with consumers increasingly seeking new experiences, creating a large opportunity for Zero Latency VR, which is one of the fastest-growing, and the most disruptive players in this space,” said Symon Vegter from Advent Partners. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the team and to provide them with support as they seek to establish FRVR as the new medium in leisure and entertainment.”
As mentioned, the LBE VR industry is coming back in full force with plenty of exciting additions available now and in the near future. Apart from Far Cry VR, LBE specialist Hologate is due to launch Hologate World in September in Germany, offering a new hyper-reality experience called Sigvried: Escape from Valhalla. Or if you’re a fan of shooting zombies there’s always Viva Las Vengence: A VR Experience that takes place inside its very own taco truck. Set in Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, the multiplayer experience opened in Los Angeles and New York City in July, with the London, UK event starting next month.
For continued updates from Zero Latency, keep reading VRFocus.
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.
Last year Ubisoft and location-based entertainment (LBE) company Zero Latency announced an exciting partnership that would see the Far Cry franchise brought into virtual reality (VR). Today, they’ve announced that Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is now available at select Zero Latency locations worldwide.
Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is a free-roaming, multiplayer shooter for up to eight people, taking them to Rook Islands the setting for Far Cry 3. With each session clocking it at around 30 minutes, players have to fight their way across the island, dealing with plenty of henchmen before confronting the main villain himself, Vaas.
Just like Zero Latency’s other VR titles, players will be able to freely explore the environments, dealing with enemies from all sides with their haptic guns, which can provide a realistic rifle or shotgun feel with pump-action mechanics.
“We’re always looking for new ways to provide our players with the very best entertainment the freeroam VR industry has to offer, and our new Far Cry VR: Dive into Insanity experience is exceptional,” said Tim Ruse, CEO of Zero Latency VR in a statement. “We worked closely with Ubisoft to make sure the action-packed world of Far Cry would feel authentic for fans and entice new players as well.”
“Bolstered by Zero Latency’s one-of-a-kind concept, free-roaming VR is an excellent way for gamers and non-gamers alike to explore the vivid world of Far Cry. We’re thrilled to offer a game that brings people together to create memorable moments” said Deborah Papiernik, VP of New Business at Ubisoft.
Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is available at 33 of Zero Latency’s locations around the world (there are 45 locations worldwide) so you’ll need to check your local one to see if they have it available. The launch continues the LBE industry’s move towards a wider reopening as local pandemic restrictions begin to ease. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
The previously-announced Far Cry VR arcade game is launching at locations today, and we’ve got our first look.
Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is a Zero Latency VR experience and launches at 33 of the company’s locations. The game is set ahead of the events of Far Cry 3 and features the same tropical island environment as well as the game’s iconic villian, Vas. Check out the trailer below.
Up to eight players team up to try and escape the island, armed with rifle-shaped controllers. Over the course of the experience they’ll be taxied across the island in a lift, cross chasms on rickety platforms and face off with Vas and his followers in a climactic battle. Weapons include machine guns and crossbows, and Zero Latency’s tech allows you to roam environments without a wire attached to a PC on the other side of the room – you wear the kit like a backpack.
Locations now featuring Far Cry VR span the globe, including sites in the US, UK, Europe and Australia. You can book tickets here – other Zero Latency experiences cost around $45 per person so expect that to be the case here.
Zero Latency, like other VR arcade businesses around the world, will be hoping the use of a big IP like Far Cry will draw many visitors back in as vaccines give hope that the US and other countries will soon emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic. Last week we reported that Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead is also getting a location-based VR experience, for example. But with so much about the pandemic still uncertain, it remains to be seen if now is really the right time for VR arcades to re-emerge.
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.
Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is a new VR arcade experience supporting up to eight players. The game is now available across Zero Latency VR arcade locations, which span 50 locations worldwide.
Update (June 10th, 2021): Ubisoft and Zero Latency today launches the Far Cry VR experience. The co-op shooter takes up to eight people to the world of Far Cry 3, and puts you face-to-face with psychopathic villain Vaas. The experience is said to take around 30 minutes.
Far Cry VR is now bookable across 50 locations in 23 countries. Check here to see if you have a Zero Latency location nearby. The original article, along with updated trailer, follows below:
Original Article (September 10th, 2020): Ubisoft announced today that it’s developing Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity as a new out-of-home VR arcade experience in collaboration with Zero Latency, one of the leading VR arcade companies with more than 45 locations in 22 countries. (see update)
There’s not much info yet on exactly what the experience will entail, beyond Ubisoft saying that “the game will take a group of up to eight players back to the Rook Islands, the setting of Far Cry 3. Captured by Vaas and his henchmen, players will explore the island and fight for survival together.” Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is due to release in 2021.
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The announcement is interesting for two reasons. First, the VR arcade scene has been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic; though the game won’t launch until 2021, Zero Latency appears to be making a sizeable bet that things will be back to normal by then, and that players will feel comfortable going out and donning VR headsets and backpacks used by the public at large.
Second, Zero Latency has traditionally done its own game development, much of it impressive in its own right, and the same for Ubisoft under its brand Ubisoft Escape Games, which has made at least three VR arcade experiences based on Ubisoft IP. At this time it isn’t clear if Zero Latency is merely licensing the Far Cry IP, or if there’s a deeper design collaboration between the studios.
